A Darkened Day
by Agent Jaid
Summary: In the middle of the Thrawn Trilogy, something goes wrong. Luke Skywalker dies. The twins; Jaina and Jacen; are seperated. Dark Jedi arise. Danger mounts. The Saga continues.
1. Default Chapter

**Author:** Jaid Ziaen  
  
**Rating: **PG-13   
**  
Genre:** AU? Angst? Torture? I don't really know....... Well, Reader torture!   
**  
Disclaimer:** Yeah! I'm making millions out of this!! NOT! George Lucas has it all, blah, blah, blah......   
  
**Feedback:** LOTS.   
**  
Mark up codes**: //….// = bond speak, **……** = Force Stone, _italics_ = thoughts   
  


**A/N: This is an AU fan fic due to the fact that I hate Cannon stuff. Welcome to my world. :-D**  
  
  
**A Darkened Day **

**  
By Jaid**   
  
  
  
(pertaining to Prologue only)   
ALL PARTS IN [PARENTHESIS] ARE DIRECT EXCERPTS FROM **TIMOTHY ZAHN'S BOOK "****DARK FORCE RISING"   
  
  
Prologue**   
  
[There was a _snap-hiss_ from beside her, and suddenly the terrain was bathed in the green-white glow of Skywalker's lightsaber. "Get behind the ship," he ordered her. "I'll hold him off."   
  
The memory of Myrkr flashed through Mara's mind; but even as she opened her mouth to remind him of how useless he was without the Force, he took a long step forward to put himself outside the ysalamir's influence. The lightsaber flashed sideways, and she heard the double _crunch _as its brilliant blade intercepted two more incoming rocks.   
  
Still laughing, C'baoth raised his hand and sent a flash of blue lightning toward them.   
  
Skywalker caught the bolt on his lightsaber, and for an instant the green of the blade was surrounded by a blue-white coronal discharge. A second bolt shot past him to vanish at the edge of the empty zone around Mara; a third again wrapped itself around the lightsaber blade.   
  
Mara's fumbling hand brushed against something metallic: her blaster. Scooping it up, she swung it towards C'baoth] and pulled the trigger.   
  
The bolt of energy raced from the barrel of her small blaster, sizzling its way into C'boath's flesh.   
  
With a startled cry of anguish he lashed out at Mara with Force lightening, oblivious to the fact that the ysalamir shielded her from his Force attacks. Luke strode forward, his lightsaber at the ready.   
  
Suddenly the scene erupted in a flurry of explosions that temporarily blinded and deafened Mara, as powerful wave of Force energy knocked Luke backwards into the ysalamir's ring of influence.   
  
"Skywalker!" Mara raged as his form plowed into hers. Mara's breath caught as she saw a large blaster burn on his back roughly the size of both her hands. "Skywalker!" she yelled again, this time her tone almost pleading.   
  
Luke's R2 unit continued firing the X-wing's lasers in C'baoth's direction, a stay bolt catching the ysalamir, allowing the comforting feeling of the Force to wash over them.   
  
"Mara…" Luke's pain tinged eyes fluttered open weakly, then slipped back.   
  
"Come on, Skywalker." Mara's voice was a strange combination of pleading and demanding. "You're the only one who can help me."   
  
"Ahh!" Luke cried in pained horror as he felt a sudden surge of Dark power. Mara's brow furrowed as she felt the same rage. "Leia!" Luke cried out, his ice blue eyes flying open as he recognized the Force wielder as his sister. "Leia," he gasped softly, he squeezed his eyes tightly shut. "Leia, don't fall. Leia, please..."   
  
Mara's brow furrowed as her mind whirled. Pain, confusion, and death wreaked havoc upon her soul. Or what was left of her soul at any rate. "What is she doing?" Mara's heart was in those few words.   
  
"It's the Senate." Luke said, his voice barely recognizable as the pain from the deaths of Mon Mothma, Borsk Fey'lya, and the other members of the Senate crashed down upon him. "Leia is on a rampage. She's killing members of the Senate."   
  
Mara felt a weak smile cross her face. "At least when she's done there'll be less politicians." Her tone was wry as she watched Luke's face carefully.   
  
Luke turned his head to face hers, their eyes locked. "How can you say that?" His voice was broken, "The Senate is made up of real, living beings. How can you joke about that?"   
  
"Oh, get off your high horse Skywalker." Mara's words were flippant but her tone was not. "Everything dies. It's natural."   
  
"Natural?" Luke's eyes flashed, "Is that what you told your self whenever you killed someone? That it was _natural_?"   
  
Even as he uttered the last few words, spikes of light pierced through the darkness that Leia was creating.   
  
Four spears of pure white light penetrated the blackness of evil.   
  
Just as quickly as they flared up, they were blanketed in a darkness that exploded through the Force. The massive amount of death was catastrophic to the already weakened Jedi Master.   
  
Gasping for breath from the pain, Luke begged Mara. "Please. Promise me you'll watch out for Leia. Please. Promise me."   
  
Caught off guard, her jade-green eyes blinked. "Excuse me?"   
  
"Leia." Luke grabbed her hand weakly and gazed imploringly into her eyes, "Please. Watch out for her and her children."   
  
"I-" Mara felt her excuses drowning in the depths of Luke's eyes. "I-"   
  
"Please." His voice caught at the end and her defenses crumbled.   
  
"Alright."   
  
"Promise."   
  
-_You will kill Luke Skywalker!!_- Her master's voice reverberated in her mind. Mara gritted her teeth and blocked out the voice.   
  
"Please." Luke's body longed to make its self one with the Force but he tenaciously hung to life. Mara could see the struggle that was going on inside him and uttered two words that sealed their fates.   
  
"I Promise."


	2. Chapter One

**Kazzy****: Of course you haven't seen anything like this. It's all MINE!!!! Glad you found your way to my world. :-D**

**Disclaimer:** If you think for one damn second that I have anything to do with Lucas Arts, you're INSANE. It's a MESS!!! This is my attempt to fix things.

  
Mara was silent as she climbed into the cockpit of Skywalker's X-wing. His old astromech droid chattered indignantly as she strapped herself in. Mara glanced at the Basic translation.   
  
//WHERE IS MASTER LUKE?!//   
  
The four words leapt out at her and she blinked.   
  
She cleared her throat, tucked a strand of red-gold hair behind her ear, and began to punch in the coordinates.   
  
"He's dead R2." Mara's voice sounded cold and foreign to her as she broke the dead silence. "He's dead."   
  


**  
Chapter 1_   
  
_**

  
Han watched the holo screen helplessly as a Senate underling breathlessly told his tale to a two headed alien reporter.   
  
"It was unbelievable! Senator Organa-Solo was out of control! Lightning was shooting from her fingers and her eyes!" The Twi'lek was shaking as he said this.   
  
"What about her eyes?", one of the heads asked   
  
"Yeah, what about her eyes?", the other head asked   
  
"Th-they, they were red!"   
  
"_Red?_", both heads gasped   
  
Han groaned and flung the remote at the screen, killing the image. A sudden burst of pounding at the door brought him to full alertness. He grabbed a short metal pole, casting about for his ever-ready blaster.   
  
The apartment looked like a junk yard.   
_  
Had it really only been 6 hours since Leia had lost control and torn the place apart? Only that long before she'd disappeared into Coruscant, only to reappear to systematically destroy the Senate?   
_  
A loud roar came from outside the door.   
  
Han quickly unlocked the door and keyed it open. A frantic woman and a paranoid Wookie whirled into the entryway. Chewied roared something to Winter who quickly keyed the door shut again and shot it with a small hand blaster.   
  
"We've got to go Han." Winter's face was paler then Hoth in a snowstorm.   
  
"Huh? Why?"   
  
A sudden outbreak of angry screams from outside the now firmly closed door spurred them into action. Winter grabbed one of Han's boots and began hunting for its mate while Chewie located Han's customized holster and blaster. Chewie tossed them to Han and disappeared to go find a few more power packs for it.   
  
Han caught it against his chest. "But Leia-" Winter whirled to face him, her dark eyes flashing.   
  
"Leia's gone, Han. Whoever that is that's tearing up the Senate, it's not Leia. Leia has never resorted to violence. That is not Leia!"   
  
Chewie came in roaring and pushed them both to the ground as something exploded behind them, raining objects down on top of them.   
  
Han's missing boot landed on his back and a pale blue blanket was draped comically over Chewie's head.   
  
Winter and Han's eyes widened in horror as the blanket brought to mind something that was infinitely precious.   
  
"Jacen and Jaina!!"   
  
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~   
  
Leia's heart was cold.   
  
All of her pain, fear, anger, and insecurity was just....... gone.   
  
She knew something was wrong as she coldly made a fist and felt a small smile crease her face. But she couldn't quite put her finger on it.   
  
The tall, regal, auburn haired lady's head crumpled in on its self in a series of cracks and screams.   
  
Across the room, a Mon Calmarian was surrounded by fifteen armed New Republic officers.   
  
"Leia!" he called, "Cease this madness! Leia-"   
  
Angrily, she lashed out with the Force, causing them to crash through the wall behind them.   
  
"My name is not Leia!" She continued to rage as a large Force Storm slowly built itself up. "I am Laedala! The Galaxy is mine to command!"


	3. Chapter Two

**k00lgirl1808****: Does that mean you'll read more of it? *cocks head***

**Kazzy****:** Yes, we all feel sorry for poor Leia (at least for right now). Jacen and Jaina?... We learn about them in this chapter.  No history won't repeat itself. Well, not exactly anyways.

**Lala****:** *turns red* Thank you… *grins*

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing. Except for Mossflower books. Oh yeah, and I own the planet Earth and everything and everyone in it. Wait – I _DO own Lucas Arts then!!! :-P Please tell me you didn't fall for it…._

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**Chapter 2**   
  
Han and Winter raced into room 247-LX.   
  
"Glad you could make it, Husband." Laedala fairly purred. Han stopped dead in his tracks and Winter's eyes hardened.   
  
"Leia." Han breathed, his chest compressed as he looked into her eyes.... her blazing red eyes.... so unlike the gentle brown that he knew and loved that he felt like crying. "Leia..." His tone was beseeching.   
  
Laedala's voice was colder then Hoth and harder then durasteel. "I am Empress Laedala. Leia is no more."   
  
Han just stood there; un-moving, un-breathing, un-blinking, his eyes fastened on the figure of his wife.   
  
Winter looked from Han to Laedala, and back to Han. "Han,-"   
  
"And Winter," Laedala interrupted coldly. "I'm disappointed." She stood and sauntered over slowly. "Trying to steal my babies. Tisk-tisk." She turned to Han.   
  
"You don't trust me, my husband?" Her gaze slowly slid to her left hand where her slim wedding band rested. "Do you remember the day you gave this to me?"   
  
Han blinked and took a hasty step back. "Uh..."   
  
Laedala pulled the golden band from her finger and dangled it in front of Han's face. "I don't need you."   
  
The sound of the band dropping on the floor was startlingly loud in the stillness.   
  
"Leave." Laedala spat, looking levelly at her husband.   
  
"Lei-" Winter started.   
  
Laedala spun to face the woman she had grown up with and pinned her against the wall with the Force.   
  
"What I wouldn't give to have a million of you to kill." Laedala hissed.   
  
Winter flicked her eyes over to Jacen and Jaina, Laedala's followed. Han had already gathered Jacen into his arms and was moving towards Jaina.   
  
"Han! Run!" Winter cried as Laedala threw a sudden, brief flash of blue Force lightning at him.   
  
Laedala's jaw dropped as the lightning disappeared when it got within a few centimeters of him.   
  
Winter took the opportunity to run for Jaina as Han headed for the door, Jacen wrapped securely in his arms. Jaina cried as Winter lifted her from where she lay and Laedala whipped back around as the door closed behind Han.   
  
Laedala's lip curled. She'd deal with Han later. Winter swallowed and held Jaina close to her chest.   
  
"Put my daughter down, scum."   
  
Winter drew a deep breath. "No, Leia. I won't."   
  
Laedala narrowed her eyes at the resolve in Winter's voice. "Ah, but you will."   
  
Blue lightning streaked from Laedala's raised hand to wrap itself around the white-haired woman. Winter dropped Jaina on the floor as she was thrown backwards by the force of Laedala's anger.   
  
"Leia!" Winter screamed. "Leia, Please!!!"  Laedala's face was serene in the blue light that was crackling in the air.   
  
Memories swept by in Laedala's mind.   
  
The death of her friends in the rebellion………. torture at the hands of Vader……… the realization that she was the daughter of Vader……. the moment that the Senate had announced Luke a traitor……… the awful moment that solidified her turning…… the death of her beloved brother………..   
  
Anger seethed in her as she sent wave after wave of Force Lightening.   
  
Finally, drained, she halted at looked at what had happened.   
  
Jaina lay on the floor, crying. A blackened…. _something_ lay on the bed. It did not resemble any living thing. Let alone the beautiful woman Winter had been.   
  
Jaina cried as she felt her other half, her twin, leave the planet. Laedala walked over and picked her up and looked deep into her daughter's honey brown eyes.   
  
"Jaina Nyx, daughter of the Empire."


	4. Chapter Three

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**Kazzy****: Anakin… You see, the problem is that TTT is as far as I've gotten in the EU so I don't have anything to base Anakin off of. I don't even know what he looks like… So… Little Wonder Boy won't be in ****ADD. Yes that was a rather violent chapter although others aren't much better. In fact there is one that's worse coming up… *wince***

**k00lgirl1808****: Oh. Okay. I hope to see you again! :-D**

**lala****:  Thank you!! [face_adoreing] I'll try to update daily. I've actually gotten this posted on another site, so I'm just copying it over so everything is already written. I have about 15 chapters so… I'll be updating everyday except for maybe Wednesdays and Sundays. I may or may not post on those days. **

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**Disclaimer: I can't charge anything. Damn. I need that college money… *looks pleadingly at her lawyer* Are you _sure_ I can't charge them??....**

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**Chapter 3   
  
**

  
  
_Mara stared deeply into dark blue eyes.....   
  
"Come.....," a soft voice whispered.   
  
"I can't." Her own voice was hushed.   
  
"Please......"   
  
The pale, ice blue eyes began to fade into a quieter, darker blue............_   
  
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~   
  
Laedala seethed as she watched her minions scuttle about the palace.   
  
"For fools, they show remarkable intelligence," she muttered softly. "But they still don't understand the power I wield."   
  
Laedala stretched luxuriously; it had been four days since she had cleaned out the Senate.   
  
A sudden appearance of a Force sensitive near Coruscant startled her. The signature was vaguely familiar… Leia's heart leapt. _Luke!? Could the Force have been wrong?_   
  
Leia flung her senses out wildly.   
  
Her heart fell.   
  
Laedala closed over Leia.   
  
"The woman who was with him at his death." She hissed, her hands curving into claws.   
  
"You there!" she snapped. A startled guard jumped to attention. "Round up 50 or so men. I have something I need you to do….."   
  
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~~-~-~~-~-~~-~   
  
Mara walked in the under world of Coruscant, wondering what the Force was doing. She knew it wanted her to do something…. She just wasn't sure what. Her danger sense suddenly flared up and she dropped to the ground, reaching out with the Force. She stilled as she realized that over forty men were after her. She swore under her breath as she searched the area for a place to defend herself.   
  
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~   
  
A small, dark haired boy lay on a small platform about 3 meters above, oblivious to what was going on below him.   
  
_**We have to wake him up.**_ a soft sibilant voice whispered. _**She is part of his destiny**_   
  
_**I say we let Djai decide**_ another voice said, _**Last time we did what you wanted, the guy was killed.**_   
  
_**That was 'cause you distracted him!**_ another, more frustrated voice cried. The boy smiled in his sleep as the two voices began debating whose fault it was that the Jedi knight had been killed.   
  
_**CUT IT OUT!!!**_ A voice 'yelled'. _**We will wake up the bo-**_   
  
_**I'll do it.**_ the second voice said with a grin, _**Don't worry, I'll take care of everything!**_   
  
~-~-~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-   
  
Kyp sat in the small cell. _One mistake.__ Just one lousy mistake._   
  
The door slid open and a large guard stood there. Kyp cowered against the wall. "Please, please don't hurt me…" he whispered   
  
The man grinned sadistically and tossed him a thermal detonator. Kyp caught it instinctively.   
  
As soon as it _thwhapped_ into his hand, a rapid beeping filled the cell. Terror filled his eyes and he tried to throw it back… The man was gone and the door, closed. The detonator fell to the floor and Kyp scuttled away from it.   
  
The ticking continued.   
  
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-   
  
Mara swore as the blasts rained down on her.   
  
_A shield! If I could just block their shots for just one minute…. _  
  
A bolt grazed her neck, and she almost fell.   
  
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-   
  
Zekk watched with wide eyes.  The lady was… wow……  
  
One blaster lay at her feet and she held two in her hands.  

Forty-seven men had come to collect her. Twenty- one were left.   
  
Soft voices were whispering at the back of his head. As he watched a bolt of red energy creased the side of her neck. She stumbled back and leaned heavily against a pole; one of her blasters falling to the ground as she pressed her hand to the open wound.   
  
_**Help her…**_ one of the voices cried   
  
_**I'm only five!!**_ Zekk replied worriedly, _**I don't know how to do anything!!**_   
  
_**You know how to be compassionate..**_ Another one of the voices said. _**That is enough…**_   
  
Zekk gritted his teeth and nodded.   
  
Gathering up all of his five year old courage, he prepared to jump down…… and didn't.   
  
_**What's the matter?**_ a voice asked   
  
"I'm scared." Zekk whispered out loud. "What if I get shot? It's supposed to hurt."   
  
A new voice sighed.  
  
_**They're idiots Zekk. Just jump. I think I'll be able to deal with the rest but you need to jump.** _the voice paused_. **You know, for a Soulwalker, you sure can be timid.**_   
  
_**Djai!**_ Zekk was delighted at the appearance of his favorite "voice"   
  
_**JUMP!!**_   
  
Startled, Zekk jumped off the edge.   
  
With a scream he thudded to the ground before Mara where he lay still.


	5. Chapter Four

**Lala****:  Yes, Zekkie is here!! [face_love]**

**Kazzy****: The voices? Well, they go away. :-D Don't worry. You'll be guessing at what I'm doing. It doesn't make sense until you look back at it then you say "Wow. I never would have thought of it… But it works!!" :-D Trust me, you'll be guessing. I have read some of the stuff from before all the movies. It wasn't that great. TTT is one of the best? :-O I think I'm going to be picky now…**

**Disclaimer:** Not mine… No matter how much I wish it… Not mine… 

  
**Chapter 4**   
  


  
Mara's throat felt tight and a prickly sort of burning sensation left her with the general feeling of helplessness. Even though her breathing was shallow, it felt as if flaming vibro-knives were being driven down her trachea and into her lungs.   
  
She drew another ragged breath.   
  
Suddenly, a high scream split the thick, smoky air as a small, dark haired form thudded to the ground before her.   
  
Mara blinked.   
  
A gigantic explosion of bright light, more brilliant than a white-blue giant going supernova, rent the area and brought her to her knees. The light pressed sharply against her eyes.   
  
She shielded her face.   
  
The unnatural brightness was painful.   
  
The pain in her throat was forgotten in the face of the new danger.   
  
The light began dimming ever so faintly.   
  
Mara blacked out.   
  
~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~   
  
Zekk groaned as he rolled over. The fall had only made him… "lose focus".   
  
_It just made me lose my focus._ Zekk pursed his lips. _Yes, that was the way to put it._ He rose up on his knees, then thumped back down to the ground. The beautiful, red-haired lady crouched down next to him; her back to him,   
  
_**Umm…. Djai? What did you just do?**   
  
**I sent out an explosion of Force light!**_ Djai's tone was a queer combination of hyper, delight, and strangely enough, smugness. _**I think I made an impression on her too!**   
  
**No, no. That was a blaster bolt.**   
  
**Huh?**   
  
**Ne're mind.**_   
  
~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~   
  
Mara Jade's eyes were tightly shut as the conversation took place in her head.   
  
_Terrific.__ Now I'm hearing voices. Wouldn't Skywalker just love this._   
  
She raised her head warily and cracked open one eye. Discovering that the bright light had disappeared completely, she fully opened both of her jade colored eyes.   
  
No one was shooting.   
  
She twisted and grabbed all three of her blasters, then expertly swapped out their power packs.   
  
Placing one in its thigh holster, she placed another in her arm holster and held the last one loosely in her right hand.   
  
"Are you alright?" a small, soft voice asked from behind her.   
  
_It will be soft and cuddly. Do I shoot first or do I find out who it is? Shoot._   
  
Mara hefted her blaster once then spun around to bring her blaster to bear on a… small humanoid child? She dropped the blaster as though it were made from molten metal.   
  
Mara felt as though she were drowning, suffocating, lost as she looked into his small face.   
  
The green eyes were so like her own and yet, so different. The face was so familiar, but … she knew she'd never seen it before.   
  
"Who are you?" Mara whispered.   
  
Zekk's eyebrows hit the edge of his bangs. Figuratively speaking of course.   
  
"Zekk Soulwalker?" He gave a nervous, cheesy grin. "Are… You all right ma'am?"   
  
~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~   
  
Tanyr Kas shuddered as the tentative bond was suddenly broken. He fell backwards on his bed.   
_  
Force, why'd this have to be so difficult? Get through to the stubborn lady; show her the truth, and then your job's done! That's it!_   
  
Tanyr groaned and covered his face with his hands.   
  
_Why can't I convince myself??_   
  
Someone pounded on his door.   
  
"Kcas! Kcas!"   
  
Tanyr waved a hand as he manipulated the door pad using the Force. "Come in." he called loudly, and then sighed. _What was it this time?_   
  
"Kcas!" a short Rodian came running in. "Kcas! What'da we do? WHAT DO WE DO?!"   
  
He looked at Tanyr wildly. "KCAS!!" he shook him. "KCAS!!! WE ARE GOING TO BE KILLED!!"   
  
The tall pirate's dark blue eyes flashed open as he leapt to his feet. "Calm down will you?!" Tanyr grabbed his lightsaber and Force pinned his second in command against the far wall. As he stood in the door he turned and pointed a finger at him. "Not a word. Understood?"   
  
The now glassy-eyed Rodian nodded his head. Tanyr turned and started to run as soon as he reached the main corridors.   
  
He slid into the bridge door, almost falling over his feet as he caught sight of the view port.   
  
"What in the?!..."


	6. Chapter Five

  
  


**Kazzy****:  I confused a lot of my other readers, don't worry. They all said it got easier to understand after a while. The only thing that got them slightly mixed up was the fact that I have a lot of characters and they haven't heard of most of them. *giggles***

**Disclaimer:** Shut up. Really. Just, shut up.

**Chapter 5**   
  
  
The tall pirate watched the dark haired boy as he huddled in the corner of the cell.   
  
His temper flared. _Durron failed. We gave him a mission and he failed. Devil blast it all! We needed that piece of in-_   
  
"Twenty five standard seconds, Captain." The quiet voice of his aide helped him pull his temper under control.   
  
"Implode it manually. I want that place floating in separate pieces." His tone was cold. Waving his hand, he said "Now."   
  
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~++   
  
Kyp huddled in the corner, his gaze transfixed on the small metallic ball ticking in the corner.   
  
The ticking sped up.   
  
Kyp closed his eyes.   
  
Suddenly a large explosion tore the small cell apart.   
  
Kyp was falling... falling.... falling...........   
  
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~   
  
The crewmembers had two widespread reactions and several of them fainted.   
  
One reaction was to freeze with horror and the other was to panic.   
  
Over half of his night-shift crew ran around the rest of the crew who stood and sat as still as statues. Those that were not in stasis were yelling conflicting orders, trying to get to escape pods, manning the guns, and still others trying to turn the ship around.   
  
It was, in a word: mayhem.   
  
All because of what awaited them at this place.   
  
A sharp gasp came from behind him and Tanyr jerked his head around to see Zylar. She was the former leader of a small pirate squadron who had unceremoniously booted her out. Zylar was a Falleen who had been kidnapped and raised among humans; because of this the Falleens despised her for her lack of control and humans criticized her for her uncaring attitude. Tanyr was the first being she had met who did not despise her so she had decided to stay on with him acting as his aide.   
  
Zylar's dark eyes stood out painfully out against her pale blue skin.   
  
"Zylar?" Tanyr's concern was instantaneous. "Are you okay?"   
  
Zylar glanced at him and then swallowed.   
  
Shaking her head sharply her skin tone changed to a bright orange, like a sun rising over Naboo. "Naturally." Her tone was husky, "Why would I be other wise?"   
  
Tanyr rolled his eyes and grinned slightly. "As you wish…"   
  


"Thank you." Zylar narrowed her eyes and cocked her head to the right. "Is that not the Katana fleet?"   
  
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-   
  
Zekk and Mara walked easily together, his small hand clasped by her hardened one.   
  
"Lady Jade?" he inquired politely, "Where are we going?"   
  
She smiled down at him, "I'm not a lady, and I'm going to see someone."   
  
"The new Empress?" Zekk asked innocently.   
  
Mara halted. _No, no. It couldn't be!_ "Empress?"   
  
"Empress of the Resurrected Empire. She has a really long title, but I can't remember it." Zekk truly didn't know why Mara's eyes narrowed and flashed like lightning, or why her hands curled into fists, or why she began running for the upper levels of Coruscant.   
  
Mara turned and started running for the Imperial Palace, Zekk following as fast as his much shorter legs allowed him.   
  
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~   
  
Han had dark circles under his eyes. Jacen was inconsolable over the loss of his younger sister and had screamed none stop for the past four days.   
  
"Chewie!" Han tried to yell, but his voice was nearly gone. "Chewie, how long till we get there?"   
  
Chewie's answering roar did not improve Han's mood.   
  
"Another day?! We won't be alive in another day!"   
  
Chewie laughed and then they both froze suddenly.   
  
Something was wrong.   
  
Terribly wrong.   
  
It was important and it was just……... gone. Han held his breath; he could hear the blood rushing in his ears.   
  
A small screech came from the hall. _Chewie's__ comin'._ Han thought. _Wait, how do I know that? I heard him in the ha-_   
  
Han's face was the picture of absolute bliss. Chewie growled a soft question that fell on deaf ears. He asked it again, the volume increased slightly.   
  
"SH!!" Han demanded, throwing a death glare at the one who would dare to disturb the heavenly peace on deck.   
  
Chewie looked at his friend with amusement and then shook his shaggy head. He'd leave Han to his silence and go laugh himself silly in the cockpit.   
  
Jacen's eyes were wide open, their color wavering between brandy and blue. "Da?" he questioned in a very sweet voice.   
  
"Yes, little one?" Han made a cutesy face and grimaced mentally; _thank heaven's Chewie's gone. If he saw this, I'd never live it down._   
  
"DA!!" Jacen squealed and pulled on his father's nose.   
  
"Ow!" Han jerked his head back swiftly, tears in his eyes.   
  
"Da?" Jacen's wide eyes looked worried, "Aya?"   
  
Han's heart clenched so fiercely that he thought he'd die from the pain. He tried to speak but words failed him.   
  
Jacen's eyes looked puzzled and then a faint smile showed in them, as though he had just realized something important. He struggled to get a grip on the Force that was eluding his grasp. Then it was handed to him, it was as though the Force had been suddenly chastised and was ashamed of itself. Jacen took a hold of it with a sweet toothless smile, "Da!" he cried happily, throwing both hands out as well as the Force.   
  
The sleep suggestion hit Han hard and fast.   
  
He was dead to the world before his head landed on the floor.   
  
~-~~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~   
  
Teneniel Djo stood by the tall window; her eyes were dark and brooding.   
  
"Your majesty," an aide called from the door, her head bowed. "You wished to see the Princess?"   
  
"Yes An'an." Teneniel turned, a smile crossing her normally stern face. "Tenel Ka. Have you been a good girl?" she cooed softly as she took her baby daughter in her arms.   
  
"You'll spoil her rotten." Isolder said quietly from a narrow doorway, drinking in the sight of his beloved wife and daughter.   
  
"Don't listen to him." Teneniel whispered softly to the quiet gray-eyed baby. "We'll toughen you up. After all, you are a Dathomirian warrior, are you not?"   
  
Isolder rolled his eyes and walked towards them.   
  
"I love you." He whispered in Teneniel's ear as he ran his hands up and down her arms gently.   
  
She looked over her shoulder at him and smiled. "I know." Isolder leaned in for a kiss and Teneniel got a brilliant idea.   
  
"Hold her for a moment." She instructed. Placing their daughter unceremoniously in his arms as she swiftly stepped away from him.   
  
Isolder's eyes bulged in shock as he felt the warm, pliant weight rest in his arms.   
  
"Teneniel-" he said in a strangled tone that was cut off as she glared at him.   
  
He swallowed and looked into Tenel Ka's dark gray eyes. "Uh- Hello."   
  
She cocked her head, her expression unreadable. The slight movement made the corner of the blanket that was covering her head fall back.   
  
Tenel Ka, Princess of the Hapes Cluster, was only five days old and already had a full head of flame colored hair.   
  
She reached a hand up to touch Isolder's face curiously. "Da?"   
  



	7. Chapter Six

  
  


**Chapter 6**   
  
  
  
"Hey look." A guard said to his companion. "Over there. See?"   
  
The other guard looked but saw nothing. "What?"   
  
"It was some type of humanoid. Female I think. Walked like our red eyed Empress."   
  
The other guard shook his head. "You and women."   
  
"Him and _woman_?" a sultry voice came softly behind them. Both men spun swiftly, bringing their blasters up. They caught a glimpse of gleaming red-gold hair and cold jade eyes before two blaster bolts were fired at point-blank range into their chests.   
  
"Suckers." Mara muttered as she holstered one blaster and headed on with her quest for revenge.   
  
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~   
  
Zekk peered around the corner of the building. Two alien creatures lay on the ground. Next to them lay two highly illegal blasters. Zekk grinned and scampered over to them gleefully. "Cool..." his eyes fairly glittered as he lifted the medium sized blaster in his hands.   
  
_**What do you think you're doing?**_ Djai sounded very disturbed, Zekk noticed.   
  
_**Nothing....**_ Zekk said slyly; trying hard not to smirk as he could feel Djai's agitation.   
  
~~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~--   
  
Jaina's emotions screamed through the Force, her pain and sense of loss cutting wide swaths of blazing red in the darkness of the Force.   
  
Even those who were not Force-sensitive could tell at a glance that she was in intense pain.   
  
You could feel the heat radiating off of her small form even from within a few feet of her. The medics tried their best but Laedala knew that her daughter would more then likely be by the morrow.   
  
Pacing out side the window that looked into Jaina's room Laedala watched helplessly and cursed the white-haired humanoid that had dropped her child. The name "Winter" was swiftly becoming the most insulting by-word known to Coruscant.   
  
~~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~--   
  
Jacen lay still as the ship came out of hyperspace. His father no longer lay on the floor, a tall cuddly person-bear-thingy had come and taken him away. Jacen sighed contentedly.   
  
Life was everywhere! Wherever here was he really didn't care. With a giggle that only babies can pull off, he began to search through the Force for something that he wasn't sure about. Something he needed but couldn't tell…   
  
The only way I can think of to describe this to you would be if you were staring at the stars at night picking through them at random, that's how he was.   
  
Another sense reached out, it was a brilliant blinding white one wrapped around a cool orange.   
  
He gurgled with pleasure; it had come back again!   
  
With a sudden surge of unexplainable panic, he threw everything he could at the Force sense, trying to bring it close to him as he had once before.   
  
He whimpered as it pulled away.   
  
~~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~--   
  
Zekk peered around the corner, and then back the way he'd come. Well… no one was coming. He darted out around the corner and raced along the long narrow hall.   
  
_**You got yourself in trouble again, didn't you.** _Djai's voice was resigned.   
  
_**Not exactly-**_ Zekk halted abruptly then pressed himself into a small alcove with a water fountain. _**The guards just have no sense. How was I supposed to know that I wasn't allowed to carry blasters around in here?** _  
  
Djai groaned. _**Tell me that the guards are still alive.** _  
  
_**That they are, but they are taking a "nap".** _Zekk snickered.   
  
Djai groaned again. _**Dear Force, tell me you didn't!** _he begged.   
  
_**Umm…** _Zekk stalled.   
  
"What are you doing? This is a restrict-" the stern Mon Calamarian was thrown back against the corridor end as Zekk flung a Force shove at her. She crumpled to the ground.   
  
"Uh-oh." Zekk muttered. Glancing guiltily over his shoulder he slipped from the alcove and continued running down the hall to a plexi-glass room where a dark-haired baby lay dying.   
  
~~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~--   
  
Mara slipped from the small hidden turbo-lift on the left of the great throne. Her sharp green eyes immediately ravaged the vast room for alarms and guards. Mara's contempt for the Alderinnian slut rose drastically as her sweep came up clean. Her lip curled; not even a vidfeed. The diminutive cinnabar haired woman sat on the throne, her pale skin emphasized by her vibrant colored dress.   
  
"…I accept the terms of this treaty. When should I expect the arrival of you and your men?"   
  
"I will be there as soon as I can wrap up a few… loose ends."   
  
The back of Mara's neck tingled as she recognized the second voice as that of the red-eyed monster, Grand Admiral Thrawn.   
  
"Of course. Laedala out." The false Empress pressed a button with one finger and the small blue holo-image flickered once and then vanished.   
  
Mara drew the blaster from her arm holster and glanced swiftly at the power levels. Moving silently towards the throne, she quietly slid out the used power pack and it was with an audible click that she snapped the new one in.   
  
As soon as the sound reached Laedala's ears she was staring at the blaster barrel that was pointed between her own glowing red eyes.   
  
~~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~--   
  
Zekk stood at the clear wall, his dark emerald gaze fastened on the small, weak form on the medical bed in the center of the room.   
  
_**Oh no.**_ Djai sounded perfectly horrified. _**Oh please. Please don't let that be her!! Tell me I'm dreaming!**_   
  
_**Djai? What's the matter?**_ Zekk blinked and almost doubled over in pain as yet another bright red swath of pain crossed the pane of the living Force.   
  
_**It's… She's… Jai- GAHHH!!** _Djai was too upset and disturbed to finish.   
  
_**What!?**_ Zekk asked exasperatedly.   
  
But for he never received an answer.   
  
~~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~--   
  
Laedala's burning red eyes met the cool jade ones of the assassin.   
  
"Soo…" Mara drew the word out. "You are **Empress **now 'eh."   
  
"That I am."   
  
Mara's lip curled and she cuffed the former Senator's head with the barrel of her alternate blaster.   
  
"You bitch."   
  
~~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~--   
  
Zekk slowly lowered himself into the room where the Imperial Princess was being kept. The air-vents were very useful.   
  
She was smaller then he had first thought, her dark brown eyes were wide and filled with pain. Her dark hair was wet from sweat and her entire body was red from heat even though her hands and feet were like ice chips.   
  
A faint stirring in the Force warned Zekk but he could only stand by helplessly as the Force created a second bond that day. The first to the jade-eyed woman who he had tried to rescue, Lady Jade; now yet another bond was created. This second one was to a chocolate-eyed baby, Princess Jaina.   
  
~~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~--   
  
Mara stood over the crumpled form of Laedala when her apprentice contacted her. She nearly fell over when his voice came over the bond as loudly and as clearly as though he stood next to her.   
  
//Lady Jade? I… Where are you?//   
  
Shaking her head, Mara forced herself to answer. //With Leia. The imposter Empress.//   
  
~~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~--   
  
Zekk gently held the sleeping Jaina, for the first time in days she felt no pain.   
  
_**Umm… Zekk? What the hell do you think you're doing?!**_ Djai's voice was horrified, disbelieving, terrified. _**Do you have ANY idea who that is?!**_   
  
_**Princess Jaina?** _Zekk asked bemused, his attention riveted on the small creatures delicate face.   
  
_**No! I mean yes, I mean… JUST PUT THE SITHLY THING DOWN!!!**_ Djai sounded as though his sanity had taken leave.   
  
_**What sithly thing?** _Zekk asked, genuinely confused. _**Jaina?!**_   
  
_**YES!!!** _Djai was practically shrieking.   
  
Zekk winced.   
  
This was not going to go well.   
  



	8. Chapter Seven

**Alanna****: Thanks, and I know it's a little confusing… As to why the chapters are so short is because I had them formatted differently for another site and they were about 5 ½ pages rather then the 3 ½ they are now. I can't add on to them because they are already pre-written. They should get longer though.**

**Kazzy****: Mara and Leia… *cackles* You didn't really miss 2 chapters, I just uploaded two because I had been internet-less for a day so I couldn't put one up. *sad sigh* You like the little ones? :-D YAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!! I love 'em too. :-D**

**Ameri****: The voices? *groan* Them… They… Okay. I'll give it my best shot. The other voices are Jedi long dead. They go away and come at will. *shrugs* He's only 5 and living in the Under-World of Coruscant. I had to do ****SOMETHING… Djai is a bit different but he'll be explained in the coming chapters. BTW, I like your SN.**

**Lyse****: Thanks. :-D**

**Disclaimer:** Oh all right. I'm GL's youngest Granddaughter and will be inheriting the Lucas Arts company… *has fingers crossed*

  
**Chapter Seven**   
  
  
Kyp knew he was alive... At least he hoped he was. Air was moving past him, or maybe it was just his imagination. Something touched his nose - or possibly it was his eye. Everything felt the same. The same red-hot heat infused his every cell. The same icy cold was present whenever he brushed against something. Everything had the same dream-like quality... Except these nightmares were real.   
  
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+   
  
Zekk carried her carefully in his arms. A blanket that he had grabbed at the last minute was wrapped painstakingly around her. With each step he took he fully expected someone to jump out at him and snatch her away from him.   
  
He didn't know why but he knew that he **_had_** to keep her with him.   
  
If he didn't…   
  
She'd die. And so would he.   
  
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+   
  
The pirate walked with a definite swagger. He'd soon be rid of that Durron brat... It was only a matter of time. The ship continued unrelentingly in its course.   
  
Destination? Coruscant.   
  
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+   
  
Something kept Mara from pulling the trigger. She smiled ferally at the seated woman.   
  
"Do you have any idea how pathetic your guards are?" Laedala's eyes blinked, her glowing eyes hidden from view for a brief moment. She opened her mouth to retort and Mara's sharp green eyes hardened. "Can it, slut."   
  
Laedala's eyes flared with hatred as Mara continued. "My only objective here is to make you pay. I thought about taking your life..."   
  
Laedala whispered softly, "Why don't you?"   
  
Mara raised one curved eyebrow and then with a malicious gleam in her eye reached past her nemesis's head to press a small button hidden in the design on Laedala's throne. A pale blue shield suddenly sprang into place above the two Christmas-eyed ladies.   
  
"Because I want to see you squirm."   
  
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+   
  
Han held Jacen awkwardly as the ramp slowly lowered.   
  
Chewie was at his side as they walked down the ramp where a commanding woman stood, face blank.   
  
Eleven battle-worn Dathomirian women surrounded her, their faces full of warning. Han swallowed. The comforting weight of his blaster pressed against his thigh made him feel slightly surer about himself.   
  
"Tenneniel." He nodded his head at the Force-user.   
  
"Han Solo. We've heard about Leia." Tenneniel's face remained devoid of emotion.   
  
Han's face paled. "Do you know how she's doing?"   
  
Tenneniel's solemn facade cracked and sorrow for the galaxy in general and Han in particular shone through. "I'm sorry."   
  
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+   
  
Zylar stared quietly then placed one long-fingered hand on Tanyr's shoulder.   
  
"We should contact our superiors."   
  
His head reared back slightly as the full import of what she said hit him. "Now? We don't kn-" he stopped himself. Sighed, "Fine."   
  
_I hope she's in a good mood..._   
  
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+   
  
Tenneniel kept her voice low. She had already spotted two spies. Neither of them were hers. She curled one lip contemptuously.   
  
_If Ta'a Chume wants them to stay alive, she'd better actually try training the next bunch. If this is the best she's got, I shudder._   
  
Han continued to speak quietly and Teneniel's heart went out to him even as she berated herself for allowing herself to feel sympathy. And for a man. She thought about the reoccurring vision that had been troubling her ever since that day she had spent with Tenel Ka and her husband.   
  
Tenel Ka was already extremely powerful in the Force. They had melded their Force signatures together twice and had managed to reach Jacen's own even more powerful signature each time. A sudden flash came from her right and she immediately reacted.   
  
"Duck!" her cry was short as she threw herself down and instantaneously began weaving a spell around Jacen.   
  
Han watched in horror as six large blaster bolts pounded into his partner's face. Chewie dropped to the ground… dead.   
  
"CHEWIE!" Han raged. Without thinking he dropped Jacen and drew his blaster, he fired only once. And that once was more then enough to kill the assassin.   
  
Teneniel breathed a sigh of relief as Jacen was gently lowered to the ground. Standing to her feet she picked him up gently, he cracked open his left eye. The crystal cobalt blue was penetrating and made her feel like a void.   
  
"Highness, we need to go," one of the blaster bearing warriors murmured.   
  
Teneniel nodded her head and turned to Han with one raised eyebrow. "I'll keep Jacen." He voice was quiet and hard.   
  
Han turned back to her, his face a mess of tears and his eyes wild.   
  
"No! Not Jacen! Please! Ple-"   
  
The blaster bolt caught him full in the back.   
  
Teneniel turned on one heel and strode into the Imperial Palace, her "guards" quickly surrounding Han's limp form.   
  
The one who had spoken to Teneniel grinned slyly at another one of the nine comrades. "How much do you think Thrawn will pay for him?"   
  
"Enough." Their leader's voice was like silk. "Although I am disappointed that he had to kill one of our number."   
  
"It couldn't be helped."   
  
"True." the leader fell silent.   
  
At a wave of their leader's hand they picked up Han's inert body and carried it to their ship.   
  
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+   
  
Isolder stood quietly watching his baby girl sleep.   
  
_His_ baby girl.   
  
Tenel Ka's face crinkled as a dark presence approached her room. It turned into a full-fledged wail as it stopped outside the door. Isolder cradled her protectively in his arms, her head resting on his shoulder, her flaming hair tickling his ear.   
  
"Who's there?" he called over the sounds of his unhappy daughter.   
  
"You?" The tall lady stood in the door in shock. "Let go of her! She's not yours!"   
  
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+   
  
Thrawn sat in quiet contemplation. He was missing something...   
  
"Captian Pellaeon." Thrawn acknowledged his second in command with a low voice. "What is the news?"   
  
"Karrde is dead."   
  
Thrawn's head snapped up, his red eyes blazing. "What?!" his voice gained a razor edge.   
  
"And so is Pellaeon." a smoky voice whispered out of the darkness.   
  
Thrawn watched as the man who he trusted raised a blaster and fired. Thrawn's lifeless body slumped forward and the shifter changed his human features for the alien kind that was his natural state. He pressed a small button on the com system built into his synthetic arm.   
  
"Inform the Black Fighter that the target has been eliminated."


	9. Chapter Eight

  
  
**Chapter 8**  
  
  
  
Jexna Wyild ran one hand through her pale blonde hair, now matted with sweat from wearing a flight helmet.   
  
"Captain." A tall gangly officer wearing the bars of a lieutenant came running up. "We are receiving a transmission from _Sarze__ Blade_."   
  
A cold smile tilted the corners of Jexna's faintly pink lips. "I will be there directly."   
  
~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~   
  
Tramis stood on the observation deck, his hands clasped behind his back as he waited on his sister.   
  
"Tramis?" a voice came from behind him.   
  
He turned with a blank expression. "Jexna. We gained Deyer but lost track of Katrynz. Durron's information did not, how to put it, hold water."   
  
The blue image of his younger twin sister froze, her vaguely pretty features twisting into a mask of anger.   
  
"Shavit."   
  
"We've taken him into 'custody' and at the moment have him in a virtual reality sim. A few more days and all sanity should depart." He smiled cruelly.   
  
Jexna nodded as though she had expected this. "We have Solo. Pity that his wife killed Jabba; that bounty was almost double what Thrawn is asking for."   
  
Tramis stayed silent.   
  
"What?" Jexna asked cautiously.   
  
"Thrawn is dead. He was killed by someone known only as 'Red Flare'. We received a final transmission from the _Chimerra_ before their ship self-destructed."   
  
"We have two worthless prisoners." Jexna snarled. "I'll kill Solo with my bare hands."   
  
"Calm yourself, my sister." Tramis's voice was soft and sibilant. "With the Grand Admiral dead… who do you think is going to rule?"   
  
Jexna's expression turned evil as she realized what he was getting at. "Empress Laedala."   
  
"And who was her husband?"   
  
"Han Solo."   
  
"What did he do?"   
  
"Solo? Kidnapped her son and ran away."   
  
He rubbed his chin, "I think she should pay handsomely for him. Don't you?"   
  
Her response was that her evil grin grew wider.   
  
"Perfect," she whispered.   
  
"We will meet at Coruscant in three days."   
  
"Laax tuda cv'sav," she said in farewell as her holo image vanished.   
  
~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~   
  
Isolder stared at his mother, his jaw agape. He couldn't help it. Tenel Ka Chume D'jo was his. **_HIS_**, dammit!!!   
  
He clutched her tighter.   
  
"What. Do. You. Mean." He spoke through clenched teeth.   
  
"I can not allow you to raise my granddaughter. You are a man and therefore unfit," she sneered, "and that witch you married doesn't even know how to dress herself. I wouldn't let her have my granddaughter to save my Cluster."   
  
Isolder opened his mouth to defend his beloved wife, but his mother continued.   
  
"What with the way you look at her I'm surprised that there was only one child." Her tone was increasingly condescending. "I would have expected at least two."   
  
"There are two." Teneniel's calm voice came from behind her mother-in-law. In her arms rested a small baby with a mostly-bald head. Ta'a Chume spun, her eyes fastening on the small child.   
  
"It is mine." Teneniel said to forestall her mother-in-law.   
  
Ta'a Chume's eyes narrowed. "Male or Female."   
  


"Male."   
  
Ta'a Chume's eyes narrowed even more. "I will take my granddaughter, you may keep," her tone insulting, "the boy."   
  
Teneniel's cool gray eyes flashed. "Ta'a Chume. I made a promise to you once before. I will keep it."   
  
The Queen Mother's eyes flew wide open. "You wouldn't," she breathed.   
  
Teneniel tilted her chin and raised an eyebrow, not even dignifying the woman with a response.   
  
Ta'a's eyes narrowed in hatred. "Fine," she hissed. "And may you rot in hell." With a swirl of her skirts she turned and left the doorway. Her body guards closed around her and she was soon lost from view.   
  
"Teneniel?" Isloder asked, his blue eyes wandering over the small child in her arms. "Who is that?"   
  
She turned Jacen Solo around in her arms as he opened his eyes, the brandy outer-rim and cobalt inner-ring creating an eerie contrast. "This, my husband," Tenenial's eyes were completely serious, "is our son, Javen D'jo. Our only son and twin brother to Tenel Ka."   
  
Isolder blinked. "Uhh…"   
  
"And no one will ever know different." Her voice was cold and a shiver ran down Isolder's spine.   
  
He knew their lives were irrevocably changed.   
  
~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~   
  
Zekk turned around in a circle. He was lost. Plain and simple.   
  
_**Djai? How do I get to Lady Jade?**   
  
**You're the one with the bond with her. You want to find her, you do it yourself.**_ Djai snapped. His feelings obviously still hurt by the fact that he was forced to share Zekk with what he considered the two worst threats in the galaxy; Mara Jade and Jaina Nyx.   
  
Zekk briefly and ironically wished he could strangle Djai, unaware that his father wished to do the same to Djai on countless other occasions.   
  
Jaina stretched sleepily, her small hand waving in the air. Zekk smiled until one of her sharp fingernails raked a line across his neck, leaving a small red welt that stung.   
  
He bit his lip to keep from crying out. It hurt.   
  
Djai groaned. _**Fine…**_ he sighed. _**You missed the turn off. It's three hallways back.**_   
  
Zekk grinned and started walking the way he'd come. He'd find the Lady Jade if it took him all year.   
  
_**At the rate you're going,**_ Djai muttered, _**it just might take all year.**_   
  
~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~   
  


Mara stunned Leia with one quick shot. Placing one of her blasters back in its holster, she moved to the back of the throne. Pressing different swirls on the deisign in a distinctive pattern, the entire back of the throne slid away. Before her was row after row after row of different poisons, small hold out blasters, data-cards, and other things.

Selecting a small vial marked "Ytinasni", Mara fumbled briefly for a proper injector. Her hand stilled as she spotted an ancient version of the injector. It had a long, slender needle, about five inches in length. A circular tube was attached to that and a depressor was held inside of it. Spinning the top of the vial off, she placed the needle inside the neck of the bottle and carefully drew the plunger up and the "shot" slowly filled with the pale, lavender liquid. Once it was completely filled, she grabbed an injector filled with antidote to a stun blast, she then used the Force to screw the lid back on, place the vial on its correct shelve, and close the hidden cabinet.

Mara turned to Laedala and gave her a quick injection of the antidote. Laedala's red eyes clashed open, rage her predominate emotion. Mara quickly reached in to stab the needle into Laedala's neck and force it into her blood stream. Laedala's agonized scream rebounded off the walls.

  
Mara watched with enjoyment as the serum began its work on the usurper.   
  
Laedala's skin became pasty and soaked from sweat. Her high-necked blood colored dress darkened to a near black color and soon became torn from her quick, spasmodic movements.   
  
Her enjoyment grew ten-fold as Laedala began screaming out nonsense.   
  
Her enjoyment peaked when the proper lady began gnawing on her throne's arm.   
  
~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~   
  
Zekk peeked into the room and his eyes went wide as he saw the Lady Jade sitting coolly in a small black throne while a white skinned, dark haired, red-eyed woman shrieked, ran about, ripped her dress, and gnawed on random objects.   
  
Jaina, who had been awake for some time now, screwed up her face and began to wail.   
  
Zekk, with a baby in his arms doing her best to crack the crystal based on sheer vibrations and a woman doing her best to eat the crystal after Jaina had shattered it, soon realized he had only one solution.   
  
_**Damnit!!**_ Djai almost yelled as Zekk threw a very Forceful sleep suggestion at the squalling babe. _**How can you **think**?!**_   
  
Zekk smiled briefly and carefully melded his Force signature to Djai's. Djai slowly sank them both into the Force, all the while acting as a buffer. Zekk saw the events that had lead up to this point and he was jolted out of his connection with the Force as a surprisingly strong surge of anger swept through him. Directed, oddly enough, at Laedala. Not the one who had made her like this.   
  
_**Djai? Where did that flash of anger come from?!**   
  
**Through a bond.**_ Djai's voice was grim. _**When you sink into the Force, you're shields diminish and the Force buffers you. But it can't buffer a bond.**   
  
**You mean that it came from Lady Jade?**_   
  
Djai was silent.   
  
_**I see.**_ Zekk sighed.   
  
~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~   
  
Kyp rolled over. His cheek pressed against cool metal. He struggled to lift his eyelids but they wouldn't cooperate. A cool, soft hand brushed his hair back from his forehead.   
  
"Ughhhhh…." Kyp moaned as he once again began spiraling back into darkness.   
  
"Sleep well… Kyp…" a soft feminine voice whispered in his ear as he lost all holds on reality.


	10. Chapter Nine

**Kazzy****: ** Okay, sorry about this takeing so long… *pouts unhappily* I really didn't mean to take this long.

**Disclaimer:** Why the hell am I still doing it?... Oh gods… OKAY!! IT'S **_NOT_** MINE!! NONE OF IT!!! GAHHH!!!

****

****

****

**Chapter Nine**   
  


  
  
Han's eyes sprang open as sensation came flooding back over him. He felt the cold metal beneath his bare back. That feeling only lasted a moment, though, and then blinding red pain slammed through him. An anguished scream was ripped from his throat. He tried to sit up, to pull away from the touch on his back.   
  
His mind blurred as the pain overwhelmed him, his screams echoed torturously off the walls, each echo growing in strength. His muscles contracted briefly, causing agony beyond imagining. He fell back against the metal, the pain there. He tried to raise his back and the muscles contracted yet again.   
  
His screaming was heart-breaking to the other prisoners. And he was in a maximum security cell. He was the first to make a sound that others could hear.   
  
Out of the red mists of his mind, a pair of even redder eyes became apparent until they were all he could see.   
  
**……**_Leia_**……   
  
Her soft voice floated back to him… the words at first indistinguishable. Then slowly they made sense.   
  
_I don't need you.   
  
I don't need you.   
  
I don't need you.   
  
I don't need you.   
  
I don't need you.   
  
I don't need you……_   
  
~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~   
  
  
Kyp awoke slowly. It wasn't until after he blinked several times that the ever present pain was simply… gone.   
  
He swung his feet off of the side of the ledge. Carefully resting his feet flat on the freezing-cold floor, he tapped his toes, reveling in the sensation of movement, conscious movement, without pain.   
  
He stood cautiously, his arms outstretched in an effort to help him keep his balance. His first tentative step seemed to go well, until his knees buckled and he plunged unceremoniously to the floor.   
  
He lay there for a while, his harsh breathing more of a rasp. Gritting his teeth he rolled over and pulled himself over to the ledge where he braced his shaking forearms and leaned his head on his hands.   
  
"Here. Drink this." The voice was his first clue that he was not alone in the cell.   
  
~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~   
  
Tanyr walked easily back to his quarters, wrapped in the passionate embrace of Zylar. He could feel the absolute incredulity of his crew. He could hardly keep from laughing and wiping his lips. It felt weird to be kissing scales, and not particularly pleasant.   
  
The two practically fell through the door into his quarters. As soon as the door closed, Zylar stumbled back against the wall, laughing her heart out. Tanyr grimaced and dragged his hand across his mouth.   
  
Zylar, noticing this, calmed down slightly. But only slightly, he noted cynically.   
  
"You're enjoying this way too much." He muttered as he pulled off his bed pallet. Dropping it on the floor he quickly tapped a code into the almost imperceptible key pad imbedded in the metal. A small panel slid back and a small dark blue sensory LED blinked a few times as it preformed a retinal scan.   
  
Bleeping its verification an even smaller image projector slid out and he took it gently.   
  
Walking over to his desk he placed it at the bottom of his dataterminal. A small needle quickly pricked his finger, using the blood for DNA verification. Without a sound it started up, the red key-pad image laying flat against the table.   
  
Placing his fingers on the keys he quickly began to tap the images, each touch bringing a new letter to the wide screen.   
  
In a few short seconds he had hacked into his own ship's accounts, quickly downloaded the log for the evening and deleted the hard copy of it.   
  
After encrypting it so well that he doubted that even his prodigy Ghent could crack it, he sent it to the Black Fighter he leaned back for a few short minutes then leaned forward again and began to hunt for something.   
  
Finally he found it. He was staring at a recording of a holo message between two people. His partners Jexna and Tramis he noted.   
  
His eyes slowly grew as he realized the full import of what they spoke.   
  
He didn't even bother checking over his shoulder. "Zylar." He could feel her jump, and then her guilt as she placed the holo of the beautiful woman he was in love with back inside his pillow case. "Rumple your hair and clothes then go out and tell my crew that to get out of hyperspace and to reset our course of Coruscant."   
  
Zylar groaned but did as he asked. As soon as the door closed behind her, he called the holo image to his hand.   
  
He flicked it on.   
  
It was a picture of Mara Jade.   
  
He had snapped it on a whim around five years before; her red-gold hair was pulled back by several black bands, her black suit so form fitting that he swallowed. In her hand was a small blaster that seemed the very embodiment of darkness. Her jade green eyes were wide and her lips slightly parted. She hadn't been expecting him.   
  
It wasn't until after she had run off into the darkness that he realized that there were two men laying on the floor dead.   
  
Dropping to his knees beside them, he realized that one of them was still alive and that under his body was a baby.   
  
The man was a Jedi he said, as was his brother, he waved a hand at the other limp form. The baby was his nephew Zekk. His eyes had filled with tears at this point. He had pleaded with Tanyr to help him with something. Tanyr felt compassion and promised to help him with whatever he wished.   
  
The man carefully described the process. Tanyr felt helpless when he realized that he had just agreed to essentially help kill this man.   
  
But Zekk had turned his emerald gaze on him and they so reminded him of the jade eyes he had seen only a short time before that he nodded. So he and the man merged. Not only their Force signatures, but their Life signatures as well. Looking at another body and acknowledging it as yours, sort of, was the weirdest thing for Tanyr. He was no longer just Tanyr.   
  
He was two people in the same body.   
  
Tanyr and Djai.   
  
After a short time, he found how impractical this was, and shunted Djai off into the small swirling gray, Force-sensitive rock that had been in Lyaral's, Zekk's mother, wedding ring.   
  
The last things he had done for Zekk were to place the rock around his neck on a leather thong and create a compulsion deep inside of his mind. He felt bad, knowing that if Zekk attempted to remove it, he would be in pain. But he also knew that the pain of the compulsion would be insignificant compared to the long range loss of the stone.   
  
~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~   
  
Zylar opened the door and looked at Tanyr, whose black blue eyes were almost closed as he stared at the holo of the little red-head as though he needed to find a fault with her.   
  
_He's in love with her._ She realized with a jolt. A smile quickly appeared, and just as quickly disappeared. _We are following the orders of a love-sick captain. Oh Force help._   
  
~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~   
  
Kyp accepted the cup from the small human girl whose pixy-like face was framed by dark hair and whose deep brandy eyes seemed to be larger then life.   
  
An unexplainable attraction held his attention riveted on her.   
  
He sipped the near boiling stim quietly as she chatted away about nothing in particular. He hid a smile in the cup as he noticed the gloves she wore. Made from reptilian skin they felt like cold, dry scales as he recalled the last memory he had of someone speaking to him.   
  
The door opened and a towering man stood there. "Tyrael? Get out," he ordered the small girl. Her face paled and she slid off the ledge where she had been seated beside Kyp and ran from the room.   
  
Kyp stood warily, holding his cup of stim protectively.   
  
"You've stolen my little girl's heart," the pirate said dangerously. "I want to keep you away from her."   
  
Kyp stared at him in almost open shock. If it was ten years from now he might understand this but the girl was just seven! Illogical!!   
  
He opened his mouth to argue just that but the man quickly crossed the room and yanked his cup of stim away and hurled it to the floor.   
  
"Hey! What th-" Kyp protested as he reached out his hands in a futile attempt to catch it. The man slapped a pair of stun cuffs on his wrists and began pulling him out the door and down a corridor.   
  
"Come on, it's time to get rid of you."   
  
Kyp stumbled and he heard a small gasp. He turned his head and spotted the little Tyrael standing by a corner. Her little hands pressed against her mouth and her eyes looking darker then ever from worry.   
  
"Kyp…" she whispered as her daddy pushed him around a corner. "Kyp…."**

  
+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~   
  
Kyp's arm was nearly wrenched from its socket as he ran on tip-toes in an attempt to keep up, literally, with Tyrael's father, Redrik.   
  
The pirate outweighed him by a good seventy pounds and was at least six inches taller. _Not the greatest situation for a skinny fifteen-year-old like me_, Kyp thought wryly.   
  
The pirate turned a corner; a short pug-faced alien quickly opened the blast door. Kyp felt his arm wrench and then a jolt of energy from the cuffs raced up his now immobile arm. The pirate curled his lip at Kyp then practically flung him into the back seat of a beat up speeder.   
  
He glared at Kyp. "Stay put Durron. We wouldn't want to have to hunt for you." He turned on one heel and stalked off. Kyp lay there, the pain in his arm slowly overwhelming him.   
  
The door opened and closed.   
  
"Kyppie?" Tyrael's voice was a whisper. "Kyppie? Are you alright?"   
  
Kyp groaned and tried to turn his head, only marginally succeeding. "Hey lil' rose." He tipped his chin at the small red-rose emblazoned on the slender bar of milky white attached to her gray Imperial uniform. "Where'd you get it?" 

"Papa, for my last birthday. I turned this old." She held out one hand, all of her fingers extended and two from the other hand.   
  
Kyp's quiet grin changed to a grimace as his arm shifted and yet another jolt of electricity raced up it.   
  
"Kyp!" Tyrael cried out; jerking back as a few stray sparks landed on her outstretched hand. Her face twisted in fear and horror as the first person to ever befriend her was racked with pain. In an act born of desperation she grabbed his arms and yanked on them.   
  
Her eyes went wider then ought to have been possible for the small humanoid. An angry snarl escaped her lips, her horror and fear giving way to righteous anger when she saw the stun cuffs. Bracing her shoulder against his chest in an attempt to keep him immobile, she reached down with her spare hand to her ankle and drew the small blaster that was strapped there. In one smooth move, she brought it up and shot the locking mechanism.   
  
The electricity died as though it had never been there, but Kyp's suddenly still arms felt like lead. His eyes fluttered open and he gave a slight grin as his eyes focused on the small rose.   
  
"M'little Rose."   
  
"Little roses are rosie," Tyrael said solemnly.   
  
"So that makes you Rosie?"   
  
She gently pushed him onto his back and then shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe?" She quirked an eyebrow and gave a small smile. "I can be your Rosie if you want…" she offered shyly.   
  
A warm smile crossed Kyp's face. "My lil' Rosie……"   
  
+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~   
  
Redrik stormed into the room. "Durron is in a speeder."   
  
"Did you speak with Tyrael?"   
  
"She knows to keep away from him if she wants to keep him alive," the irate father grated.   
  
"Ah. You put it like that, did you?"   
  
"Not in so many words…" Redrik shifted uneasily. "But I think she gets the point."   
  
Tramis gave a wry, cold smile as he looked up from his data pad. "Redrik. Don't screw this up. If your brat makes us lose the deal with the Empress, I'll kill her."   
  
Redrik's back felt like it was suddenly bathed in ice as fear skidded through him. He swallowed. "Yes sir."   
  
"Well done." Tramis stood easily and tossed the data pad onto the desk in front of him. Walking to a wall he opened the doors to his weapons cache. Selecting a small, compact blaster and sliding it into the holster in between his shoulders, he turned and slid his jacket on. His eyebrow rose sardonically as he studied his second in command. "I'll go on with Durron alone. Come as soon as Jexna docks."   
  
Redrik nodded tightly and turned to the window. "Oh, and Redrik?" Tamris said casually as he paused in the doorway, not even bothering to look over his shoulder. "If you come within forty meters of Kyp… I'll torture Tyrael. Then I'll cut out her heart and make you eat it. Do you understand me?"   
  
Redrik could feel the wave of numbness descend. "I understand."

"Good." The door slid shut behind Tramis.   
  
+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~   
  
Jexna dressed in snug, pink leathers as quickly as possible. The neon color looked atrocious against her pale skin and even more so when she added the nearly sheer, sickening-orange cape that flowed from one shoulder and was clasped at her opposite wrist.   
  
A light knock at the door summoned her from her contemplation before the large mirror adorning one wall.   
  
"Captain."   
  
The man leaned his head forward slightly, his toes right at the closing line. "We have docked, m'lady. First Officer Jestyn is awaiting you."   
  
Jexna's cheeks grew slightly pink as she recalled exactly how well she knew her brother's First Officer. "I… I'll be right there." She slammed the door shut, literally, on the man's face.   
  
His shout of pain and agony was both annoying and gratifying.   
  
+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~   
  
Mara watched Laedala warily. The woman's slight form shifted briefly and then her eyes opened. Mara's eyes narrowed at the dark chocolate color of the woman's formerly red eyes.   
  
"You… You were with… with Luke." Laedala's dark brown eyes filled with tears. "Weren't you. I felt your signature meld with his for a split second…."   
  
Mara's sense's pricked. "I was. What's it to you?"   
  
"I'm his sister!" Laedala protested, a few tears rolling down her cheek and met the corner of her full lips, wetting them slightly. "Leia! Doesn't that count for anything??"   
  
"If you were Leia, it would. But since you're not…" Mara trailed off coldly.   
  
Leia dropped her head in her hands, her thoughts a whirling mass of agony and loss. There was something… missing… she lifted her watery brown eyes to the jade, ice chips of her assailant. "Please… Let me know how his last few moments were… let me know he didn't suffer…." She curled into a rather awkward ball and sobbed softly.   
  
Zekk's emerald eyes softened with compassion as he saw the obvious distress of the former Senator.   
  
_**Don't do it Zekk.**_ Djai's voice was low. _**I don't know the vixen's game but it's nothing good.**   
  
**Djai, it's not Empress Laedala. It's Senator Organa. She wouldn't hurt Lady Jade.**_ Zekk tried to reason.   
  
Djai was silent, the very fact impressing upon Zekk as to how urgent Djai was. Zekk swallowed. The room had suddenly become just that much hotter.   
  
He looked over at the throne where Jaina lay. Her little pink mouth was open and she was snoring softly. Zekk snickered briefly at her.   
  
Mara looked at the woman's quaking form and was reminded inexplicably of Skywalker. _They're twins. No duh._ Mara snorted at her own foolishness. Skywalker and Laedala were twins.   
  
That was that.   
  
And this was the twin she had sworn to protect. She sighed and reached out a hand to touch Lae-Leia's shoulder. "I can show you. But we'd have to form a temporary bond." Mara stressed the word "temporary".   
  
Leia raised her face, hope brightening her dark eyes. "Really?" her voice cracked.   
  
Mara nodded her head and breathed out slowly. Cursing Skywalker for setting her up like this she slowly reached out to Leia's mind. Sensing none of the darkness she would have expected from even a fledgling Sith, she pushed aside her reservations and began building a bond.   
  
After a few moments the bond was almost created. And then something went wrong.


	11. Chapter Ten

**Ameri****:  Thank you so much for your kind words. :-) I hope you enjoy these next few chapters! More accurately, I hope you're still reading this… **

**Kazzy****: Ah, well judging by how long I've taken, I do believe I should be shot as well. :-P Actually, I forgot that I had "**ADD**" up on this site. :-P As for the length, I can honestly say that it's the longest chapter I've ever written before for anything. Yes we do know more about Djai, which reminds me that I need to solve his problem… Yes, Kyp is not in a good place whatsoever. Aye, all of the little kids are cute. :-D I introduce quite a few in fact… As for Leia and Mara, it is entirely possible that they get into more trouble. Which is half of the reason why we like 'em. :D**

**pootyface**:** Glad to hear it. :-D**

**Yaeb**** Ginn: "****ADD" is a downer I suppose. "One of those tales where all hope seems lost, and good dangles on a thread." *sits in shock* I love that phrase!! May I keep it? May I may I may I? :-D Yes AU is my forte, and I'm glad that you have resigned yourself to following it. I can promise you it's not as bad as I'm making it out… Mostly… :-P**

**jaggedlover**: **Why thank you!! *hugs* I love positive reviews…. :-D**

**Disclaimer:** Hello…. I do not own it so therefore you can not sue. I make no money whatsoever and now that Christmas has passed, I think I have a grand total of $3.07 to my name… I could have less though. [face_irritated]

**Chapter Ten**   
  
  
Her feet made no noise as she slipped down the quiet, darkened halls of the Imperial Palace. Moonlight shone through the windows yet she seemed to draw the light into herself and extinguish it. She drifted down a side passage, determination underscoring every move she made.   
  
Her destination? Javen.   
  
The two guards dressed in royal blue took one look at the black-garbed woman and stood to one side, allowing the tall graceful figure to enter.   
  
She slipped the cape from her shoulders and it fell in a graceless, shimmering heap at her feet. Her face was kind as she walked over to where the little prince lay. "Well hello there…" she cooed as she lifted him into her arms. "You're screwing up my life you beautiful thing, you," she tucked the blanket under his chin, her voice still syrupy, "and I can't let you do that."   
  
She began walking aimlessly across the room, but then a sparkle caught her eye and an evil smile crossed her lips. It was a suit of ancient Hapan armor, and there was a large pike resting in "her" hands. Her long legs ate away the separating distance and in a few moments she stood before it. She turned her pale eyes to his dark ones. "I'm sorry… it's for my own good…" Ta'a Chume's face hardened and her eyes went flat and cruel. She held him up in front of her face, a sadistic, cloying smile on her lips. One of her hands slowly reached up and gripped the side his face. The blue of his outer rim was nearly as dark as night, while the brown inner ring brought to mind the eyes of a spooked fawn.   
  
"Die!" She snarled as she rammed his head backwards onto a spike that slid into his skull with next to no resistance. The tip of the weapon appeared in the center of his forehead. Blood was everywhere.   
  
Blood, blood, blood… red… hot…. wet…. water… red…. water…   
  
Ta'a awoke with a start, her wispy hair clinging in clumps to her forehead and neck.   
  
The rain outside the Imperial Palace was louder then thunder. _Curse the Gods for sending such blastedly-miserable weather,_ the Queen Mother thought as she clenched a handful of the silken bed coverings in her fist in an agitated motion.   
  
Her eyes flickered shut. A _grandson_… a snarl escaped her bloodless lips. This boy could not be hers. That's all there is to it… The little snake was lying.   
  
The Queen Mother threw back the blankets from her bed and stood.   
  
She did _not_ have a grandson.   
  
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~   
  
Leia's dark brown eyes began to glow and slowly fade into red. Zekk watched in horrified fascination; Lady Jade's eyes were closed. She'd had no warning.   
  
Laedala's breath caught and she began singing softly in a voice that only those who are insane can pull off. "Chin up, chin up, everybody loves a happy face…"   
  
Mara's blood ran cold as the lyrics to the national anthem of the Bew'sEttolrahc swept over her. Her work on the delicate, silver bond that hung carefully between them was halted as she remembered.   
  
The pale-skinned pig-like race was almost immediately eradicated when Papetine rose to power as Emperor. The first one to be killed had been the Bew'sEttolrahc Jedi, Master Wilbur if Mara remembered correctly. Scenes from old holos of the hunt for them sprang to the fore of her mind. She shuddered. _Force! They were more annoying than Gungans and pathetic farm boys from Tatooine!!_ The Force blared a warning at her.   
  
Mara's eyes flew open in time to see Laedala rise to her full height, hatred intensifying the red of her eyes. A boiling, raging torrent of darkness poured across the fragile bond. Freezing it, burning it, solidifying it, melting it, destroying it, preserving it. Mara flew backwards, her flight halted by the slamming of her back into the throne's armrest. A hissed exclamation of pain escaped her lips and her mind roiled at the searing touch of Laedala's own mind.   
  
Zekk cowered against the back of the throne, his arms wrapped around himself. He was crying in pain as he felt each touch of Laedala's mind on Mara's as clearly as though it was his own mind being raped. Jaina, for once, was silent. The tears slowly moving down her small face were the only outward expression of pain.   
  
Mara tried to escape, to break free. Laedala arrived at the memories of Luke's last minutes… and the brief kiss they had shared.   
  
"Nooo!!" Mara's anguished scream pierced the tension filled room. "No, please!!"   
  
Laedala's lip curled in contempt and she ruthlessly tore open one of the two most precious things to Mara. The thin veneer that kept her from sinking into the darkness, the red, the pain, the oblivion, was snapped. Her own emotions surged at Laedala; amplified by the center she had found she pounded her anger on the diminutive woman.   
  
A wild shriek tore from her red lips and her green eyes lit with an unholy fire as she shut the last memory she cherished away deep in her heart and mind. Far from even herself. Only a slight twinge of remorse pricked her and then a wave of blinding anger swept through her.   
  
_**GRAB THE GIRL!!**_ Djai screamed in terror to Zekk. The small boy slammed his head into the hard metal of the throne and a sudden cry escaped his lips. Jaina gave a tiny exclamation of pain and the silver tears began darkening. Zekk's eyes flew wide open and the brush of the air against them hurt, his own face was covered in tears.   
  
He choked back a sob and hauled Jaina into his arms and then huddled back against the back of the throne.   
  
_Dear Force…. Help…._   
  
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~   
  
Tyrael watched as Kyp's green eyes close quietly. His breathing slowed and her lips curved into a smirk as he snored.   
  
_He almost sounds like a Hutt._ She covered her mouth to keep from snickering. _No… Hutts aren't like that. They are a little quieter._ She looked at him thoughtfully for a time then carefully slid something high on Kyp's wrist and then a smaller version onto his middle finger. The hard golden metal flickered, then sealed onto his skin. The mechanism made a brief noise then a transparent shield covered his hand and part of his arm.   
  
"I'm surprised Tyrael, Those are very rare," A hard voice came from behind her. "I'll just have to get Lord Tramis to take them back."   
  
Tyrael's back was ram-rod straight as she turned slowly, her eyes almost black with fear. Swallowing the lump in her throat she tried to stand straighter and attempted to meet all four of Rarein's eyes. "No."   
  
He narrowed his pale, reptilian eyes at her. "Yes."   
  
Rosie shook her hair behind one shoulder. "No."   
  
"Yes."   
  
"No."   
  
"Yes."   
  
"No."   
  
"Yes."   
  
"_No."   
  
"Yes."   
  
"No."   
  
"Yes."   
  
"No."   
  
"Yes."   
  
"**No."   
  
"Yes."   
  
"No!"   
  
"Yes!"   
  
"No!"   
  
"Yes!!"   
  
"No!!"   
  
"Yes!!"   
  
"NO!!"**_   
  
Rosie flung herself at him, one arm outstretched and her other reaching for her ankle. He turned himself to the side to avoid her but her hand latched onto his throat, her slight form plowed into his and they tumbled out of the speeder and onto the hard ground. Her groping fingers found the slightly warm blaster and she pulled on it. His foot lashed out and the blaster went flying. Her dark eyes flashed and her fear took the back seat to her anger. That blaster was brand new. If anything was wrong with it…. She snarled.   
  
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~   
  
Tramis slid into the front seat of the speeder. "Rarein?" he called, expecting to see the humanoid come running. "Rarein?" his tone colored with disapproval. A blinking data pad on the seat next to him caught his eye. Rolling his eyes slightly he reached for it.   
  
_Lord of the Three Rings.   
  
I am dealing with the sloe eyed minx. Please continue without me. I will await your punishment.   
  
Rarein._   
  
An angry hiss escaped Tramis. The fool had challenged Tyrael.   
  
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~   
  
A small boned human slipped from shadow to shadow. "Come on… come on… come on…." She whispered softly.   
  
A larger form plowed into her. "Augh!"   
  
"Hey watch it!" The smaller one cried frustratedly, "What was that for?" she rubbed her forehead where she had "kissed" the side of the speeder.   
  
"Sorry." The attacker was a girl, a taller human girl. "I just need to drop something off a platform…"   
  
The smaller one pulled off her mask, long spun gold locks tumbled about her shoulders, and just stared at Tyrael. "Drop what?"   
  
"Uhh… nothing?" Tyrael substituted, raising her eyebrows and giving what she hoped was an innocent smile. "What's your name?"   
  
The blonde one rolled her eyes but let her slip by. "I'm Anadell Seieri Carson. Carson for short." She held out a gloved hand, "And you are?"   
  
"I'm Ty-I'm Rosie."   
  
"Rosie?" Carson said slightly disapprovingly.   
  
Tyrael flushed. "Yeah, Rosie."   
  
"Ouch. You have my sympathy."   
  
Rosie shrugged, "It's not so bad."   
  
"I suppose…" Carson hedged, "So how old are you? Do you like blasters? What are you doing here? What do you need to drop? Can I help? Can I stick with you? Wher-" she froze when she saw the muzzle end of the blaster pointed at her. She swallowed the lump in her throat. "I guess that answers several of my questions."   
  
Rosie smirked but fought for control. "No more questions. Rea-"   
  
"TYRAEL JESTYN!!!! WHERE THE SITHIN' HELL ARE YOU???" a man roared from in the darkness.   
  
Carson reacted instantly. Sliding her hand to the small of her back and pulling out a small modified blaster, she quickly spun around; locking her sights on the large hulking figure.   
  
Rosie blanched and grabbed Carson's arm. "Come on!" she hissed. "We've got to go!"   
  
The two raced across a patch of moonlight into a parking building. Dodging speeders and rolling under some, they halted behind a long, black stretch speeder. A fairly large black bundle moaned. "What's that?" Carson gasped; she was not used to such rapid movements. She rubbed her shoulder where she had landed when Rosie had yanked her down.   
  
Rosie smirked, "This is Rarein, and what I need to drop."   
  
Carson's blue eyes seemed to jump out at her, the white lightening streaks from her pupil almost glowing. "You're killing someone?!"   
  
_Yes._   
  
"No. He rammed the back of his head into a large fractured piece of glass." Rosie grimaced. "There was a lot of blood."   
  
"I'll bet."   
  
Rosie glanced over one shoulder. "Would you mind… helping me out? I don't think I can do this on my own."   
  
"With pleasure!"   
  
With a slight giggle from Carson and a strained grin from Rosie a life long friendship was formed. Not over caf and a good book like most normal sentient beings, but over the disposal of a dead body.   
  
Okay so Rosie and Carson aren't exactly the most normal people in the Galaxy.   
  
Carson grinned as they watched the black form fall into the blackness of Coruscant's underworld. "Well that's done."   
  
"Thank heavens." Rosie muttered.   
  
"Where to now?" Carson asked, wiping her hands on her black pants.   
  
"We go find Kyp." Rosie's face settled into a firm resolve. "Either that or take over _Sarze__ Blade_. You pick."   
  
Carson's grin turned evil and a cackle escaped her. She hunched over slightly and rubbed her hands together. Rosie's eyes grew wide and Carson snapped out of it. "Uhh… Sorry. _Sarze__ Blade_. Does it have a good weapons system?"   
  
"The very best." Rosie smirked.   
  
"And W-Janson XII Drives?"   
  
Rosie nodded, "They can make .5 past lightspeed."   
  
Carson whistled, "Sweet. I don't think I'll inquire any more."   
  
"Why not?"   
  
"Cause I want to get my hands on it. Now."   
  
Rosie laughed as Carson stuffed her hair into the black mask/head covering; Carson turned and grinned impishly at Rosie. "Come on, shorty. Lead me to our ship!"   
  
"As you wish, Mistress!" Rosie tossed back as she and Carson dissolved into giggles as they scampered off to claim "their" ship.   
  



	12. Chapter Eleven

**Kazzy****: **Glad you liked my Charlotte's Web reference. :-P And I specialize in them getting into trouble. [face_devil], what can I say? :-D

**Disclaimer:** Don't own it, don't sue… Short chappie I know. *sigh*

****

**Chapter Eleven**   
  
  
"I still think we should have tried to blast our way in," Carson complained. "Sneaking in seems so... so... so sissy."   
  
Rosie agreed but there was no way she'd tell Carson. She reached over and patted her little friend on the top of her blonde head. "Blast our way in? We have two blasters between us. Ho-"   
  
Carson reached over her shoulders and whipped out two lightsaber hilts from behind her neck. Holding them at an arms length, the hilts forming a triangle with the floor, then she thumbed them on. Out of one a vibrant purple blade shot out, while the other one had no color.   
  
A brief shimmer caught Rosie's eye and her question froze before it was voiced. Carson's smile was predatory and gleeful. "Like 'em?"   
  
"I only see one." Rosie squinted at the empty space, trying to see the flicker again. _Did I imagine it?_   
  
"There are two." Carson's voice was filled with satisfaction. "And both are mine. See this one?" she shut down the purple blade and returned it to one of the three hidden slots sewn into her black jump suit.   
  
Walking over to a black surface she held the clear lightsaber over it, the faint outline of it barely visible. "It's like water," Rosie marveled, reaching out a hand to touch the blade.   
  
"Watch it!" Carson yelped, snapping off the blade. A surprised voice and a loud stumble followed by a thud let the girls know that they were in trouble.   
  
Rosie's eyes went really wide. "What is it?" hissed Carson.   
  
"Do you remember if I locked the door?" Rosie whispered fearfully.   
  
They looked at each other for a moment; then they stared at the door; they groaned. They were toast.   
  
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~   
  
Kyp glanced surreptitiously at the brown-haired man who lay on the cold floor beside him. The stranger's face was a mask of agony that made Kyp's own pain seem relatively nonexistent.   
  
"Hey si-uhh…" Kyp's whispered communication dissolved into a moan of pain as Jexna kicked him in the ribs with the point of her high heeled boots.   
  
"Shaddup!" she hissed, her neon outfit looking absurdly out of place in the dark mysterious palace.   
  
"And what do you expect me to do?" asked a rather bored Empress, lounging in her throne much like the late emperor had.   
  
The twins shared a worried glance. "We brought you your husband-"   
  
"We brought you two slaves-" Tramis and Jexna said simultaneously, they shared another worried glance.   
  
Laedala raised an eyebrow. "I have no need for slaves or for my… Lover." Her tone was insulting. "Mara." A slender woman, quieter then a ghost of light slipped from the shadows at the summons. "What do you think we should do with them?" Laedala's voice held only slight traces of curiosity.   
  
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~   
  
Mara felt empty. Her brain was numb from the aftershock of Laedala's invasion. Faces flashed before her eyes. Words slid by in her mind. Reality faded away as images from the past – her past – enveloped her.   
  
A pair of green eyes… a pair of fading blue ones… the slight forms of the young Jedi initiates…. The hardened military officials… the influential members of the court… the shadowy figures of Jedi as they fell to the ground… all of the beings she had ever killed.   
  
Images she had long since forgotten, images she had used to comfort herself late at night, images of her missions swam lazily in her mind.   
  
Voices from an era long gone whispered like Harpies in her ears, promising everything yet offering nothing.   
  
_"Who are you?"   
  
"What are you?   
  
"What has happened?"   
  
"How did you know?"   
_  
The words her victims uttered if she allowed them the time and luxury. "The Emperor's Hand has found you…" Mara said softly, unconsciously repeating the phrase she had used when her Master allowed her to identify herself.   
  
Laedala rolled her eyes and sighed loudly, "Ma-ra." She drawled, her patience growing thin.   
  
Mara suddenly looked carefully at Han's agony twisted face. – He is a high-ranking rebel – a dim voice informed her. She turned her hard eyes to Laedala again. "Kill him." Her voice was hard, cold, emotionless. Her assassin's voice, the one from her days of glory.   
  
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~   
  
Laedala felt satisfaction grow. _Yes… Kill him…_ a sudden shot of panic raced through her as she looked at her hus-LOVER!! A voice screamed at her inside her head. _Han, dearest Han…_ she raised a hand to issue the order to release him. A war erupted inside her and her hand stilled.   
  
He left me! He deserves to die! I don't need him! Her mind cried.   
  
He loves me! He was frightened! I want him! Her heart countered.   
  
A war was waged, a battle fought.   
  
Her mind won.   
  
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~   
  
Kyp watched in horror as the redhead raised a hand and in one quick motion made a fist and jerked it like she was tightening a bolt. The man's head snapped, hanging from his neck at an abnormal angle. It was her. Kyp knew it. Somehow she had broken his neck. A maelstrom of emotions rose in Kyp faster then he thought possible.   
  
Blinding outrage at her brutality. Paralyzing fear of her power. Frustration at her causal stance on death. Admiration for her objectivity. Anger at her blindness.   
  
He had seen the look on the Empress's face; she hadn't wanted him dead. When she had cowered back against her throne, he vowed to protect her. A strange power surrounded him. He could feel it. The jade eyed woman smiled coldly and his rage mounted. His lip curled and he pushed at the power, trying to throw it in her direction.   
  
"Kyp Durron…" the Empress said softly. "I am going to have these pirates killed." The stun cuffs fell from his wrists and the people surrounding him froze. "Would you do the honors?"   
  
He glanced at one, his revulsion a living thing in him. He stopped as he saw _her_ mocking green eyes. A sudden rushing filled his head and all he was aware of was fear. Fear, coupled with roiling anger. The power sang to him and he reached out and grabbed a handful mentally. Holding it steady he imagined it as fire, imagined it crashing down on the pirates. _They deserve it,_ he thought dimly.   
  
His eyes sprang open at the intense heat. Charred lumps of human flesh lay about him, tiny flames still licking up from the remains of the clothing. The smell made him gag. The room wavered and he took an unsteady step forward. He wasn't aware of how he slammed his head into the ground as he slipped back into the comforting arms of unconsciousness.


	13. Chapter Twelve

**Kazzy****: Yeah, Leia probably would be pretty horrified if she did… Must be why I'm sparing her of that. :-P Mara will survive it'll just take a while. ;-)**

**Disclaimer:** Don't own it. :-P Notice how my Disclaimers keep getting keep getting shorter?....

  
**Chapter Twelve**   
  
Tenel Ka regarded the screaming child with a sense of annoyance. He was still howling after almost three hours. Taking a deep breath, she made a picture in her mind- a picture in which he was _silent_! Slowly releasing her breath she tried to make him see the picture, pushing the thought at him. A plea underscored every nuance of the picture and Javen's cries slowly stopped though the tears still fell.   
  
A sudden urgency filled her and she reached out, trying to locate its source. Suddenly, she felt something warm and balmy poured into her heart. A quiet peacefulness fell over her as she comforted Javen through the Force. Ten standard minutes later he was asleep. She laid her head on her hands in front of her as she watched her older brother.   
  
An undercurrent of fear wafted across the room and Tenel Ka's tiny form shivered. Evil…   
  
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~   
  
Rosie and Carson jumped as the blast doors exploded. Small jagged shards of white-hot durasteel flying in a complex aerial act both horrified and fascinated the two girls; it brought to mind fire shows.   
  
Three beings entered the room, their shapes darker against the smoke that writhed about the large room. Rosie was rocked by shock and recognition as she looked at the middle being. _I don't know-_   
  
//Oh… Sith…// the words slid slowly across Rosie's consciousness. It wasn't her thought. She shook her head. _That was **not** my thought!!_ Rosie argued. //Sith?!// the thought ran through her suddenly bewildered mind.   
  
//Si-// The word started with certainty then suddenly halted with startled fear. //Who the hell is this?? This is my head??//   
  
//My head?? Myself??// Rosie stated, her blaster dangling from one hand as her mind raced to understand what was going on.   
  
//No, you're not me… I don't think so anyways…//   
  
There was a slight pause, then…   
  
//Carson?....//   
  
//ROSIE???//   
  
//What in the seven Sith hells?!//   
  
//You're in my head…//   
  
//No. You're in my head!!// Rosie corrected meticulously.   
  
//Mine.//   
  
//Mine.//   
  
//Mine.//   
  
//Mine!//   
  
//Mine!//   
  
//Mine!//   
  
//Mine!!//   
  
//Mine!!//   
  
//**Mine!!**//   
  
//**Mine!!**//   
  
//**Mine!!**//   
  
//**Mine!!**//   
  
//**Mine!!**//   
  
//**Mine!!**//   
  
//**Mine!!**//   
  
//**Mine!!**//   
  
//**_Mine!!_**//   
  
//**_Mine!!_**//   
  
//**_Mine!!_**//   
  
//**_Mine!!_**//   
  
//**_Mine!!_**//   
  
//**_Mine!!_**//   
  
//**_Mine!!_**//   
  
//**_Mine!!_**//   
  
//**_Mine!!_**//   
  
//**_MINE!!!_**//   
  
//**_MINE!!!_**//   
  
//**_MINE!!!_**//   
  
//**_MINE!!!_**//   
  
//**_MINE!!!_**//   
  
//**_MINE!!!_**//   
  
//**_MINE!!!_**//   
  
//**_MINE!!!_**//   
  
//**_MINE!!!_**//   
  
//**_MINE!!!_**//   
  
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Carson screamed aloud as a large, humanoid hand wrapped around her neck and lifted her clear into the air. Her legs kicked at him but they met only empty air.   
  
"Anadell? What in the name of the Jedi are you doing here?" the puzzled man asked in a crisp voice that spoke of years of service to the Empire. Accent and all.   
  
"Runnin' away." Carson grunted, her face turning red. She squirmed briefly then deciding that the results were too long in coming, slammed her foot into his crotch. With a pained, colorful oath he dropped her and doubled over, his own face bright crimson. A red beam of focused energy slammed into the back of the man's head.   
  
"JUSTIN!!" Carson screamed; her own face a mirror image of the man's pain-filled one. He blinked once, and then collapsed at her feet. She screamed again, the need for revenge mixing with her casual attitude towards death. Her lip curled in a sneer and her eyes filed with tears and then turned to freezing anger.   
  
A contingent of men suddenly ran into the helm. Without a word Carson turned and opened fire on them. Two Wookiees had fallen dead to the floor before they could react. The smoke filled air was alive as the blaster bolts flew fast and heavy. The zinging colors of the bolts reminded Rosie of a night club, but she knew there was nothing here that could be mistaken for pleasure, only death. Well, except for Carson. She knew that the others all had a convention meeting at hell's gates and she was determined to not make any of them miss it. In fact, she'd send them there herself.   
  
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~   
  
Mara lay down on the bed, her mind frozen in the past. All of her old instincts coming to the fore, battling at the bond she shared with the small child, Soulwalker. Breathing softly, she scanned the room with the Force. Coming up with two bugs, her lip curled in distaste and she crushed them with a contemptuous flick of her hand. _Kyp Durron…_ her eyes fluttered close as she recalled every nuance of that first meeting with breath taking clarity.   
  
"He's powerful…" she whispered quietly to herself. "Far too powerful. He's not worth the risk… I'll have to remove him…"   
  
Remaining still, she slipped into an awareness meditation. Her breathing slowed to the point that she only inhaled once every sixty-eight seconds, a handy trick that her Master had taught her.   
  
_………………In………………   
  
………………Out……………   
  
………………In…………………   
  
………………Out……………   
  
………………In…………………   
  
………………Out……………   
  
………………In…………………   
  
………………Out……………   
  
………………In…………………   
  
………………Out…………… _  
  
Her mind drifted from idea to idea as thoughts of killing Kyp filled her. A snarl escaped her lips and her green eyes snapped open. Her face was white and her eyes seemed to glow. An expression of fear and helplessness crossed her face.   
  
"It's… gone…………" she whispered in a soft, lost tone. Her eyes widened as an unfamiliar emotion crept through her heart. She clamped her lips together. An aching gap seemed to open up in her heart. A dry sob slipped past her iron control.   
  
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~   
  
"Utinam coniurati te in foro interficiant!" Rosie dodged behind a smoking metal panel.   
  
"Utinam con-a what?" Carson called, brow furrowed as she tried to figure out what Rosie had said.   
  
"Yeah! AIEE!" Rosie yelped as a blaster bolt nicked the top of her shoe, leaving a blackened crevice in its wake coupled with the scent of burning leather.   
  
"What's it mean?!" Carson tossed over her shoulder as she dashed to the next console. Two point one five seconds later, the console she had been hiding behind blew apart at the seams, flecks of metal and screws shooting off in all directions. "Meh," the small blonde said in admiration.   
  
"Dunno!" Rosie sang out, squeezing off another shot. "One of the guys on daddy's crew said it a lot. Sounds kinda evil, don't ya think?"   
  
Carson appeared to consider this, casually killing seven more beings and destroying four consoles before casting a quick glance at Rosie. "It got them mad, must be something good!"   
  
Rosie laughed as the scene exploded around them.   
  
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~   
  
A woman sat at a desk in a small room that was glowing softly as she tapped expertly away at one of the many computers.   
  
A red light flared seven times on her left. With three more key strokes she pushed off, spinning around in her chair, and then planting her feet to halt her now-forward motion. Reaching one hand out blindly for a metal chalice she brought it to her lips and took a long draught of the dark brown mixture that she practically lived on. The warm liquid ran down her throat and she could feel it curling in her belly and warming her lithe body.   
  
Crossing her ankles and swinging her feet which landed, unfortunately, two inches above the ground. Being short sucked. And she wasn't even that short.   
  
Sighing and rolling her eyes she quickly opened the latest message. It was sent both to her and to her top operative. Groaning at the level of security she quickly ran through all the codes. Once she finally got down to the letter, she propped her chin on one hand and started reading. Her eyes slowly grew large and she went perfectly still. A shiver of fear raced through her. Her motions were slow and deliberate as she struggled to control herself. Taking a deep breath, she began coding a memo to the other operative.   
  
_Frozen Star,   
I don't suppose I need to tell you why you're getting this. I want you back at the base. You're worrying about them, but the two I have here are in more danger. Those two are already where they are wanted. These aren't. Get back here; your next mission is to protect mine.   
You can not fail me this time.   
Black Fighter_   
  
Her body was quaking as she sent it. Shaking her head and closing her eyes, she tried to relax. Flipping her hair over her shoulders with one hand, she walked out of the room.   
  
As soon as she stepped outside, sunlight hit her face and her persona changed. Black Fighter dropped away and a beautiful, alluring woman walked into the light-drenched Halls.   
  
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~   
  
Eleven purple eyes narrowed and thin lips curled into a fiendish smile as he looked at the wall, the door line imperceptible. It did not matter. He knew where it was. That was all that mattered. He lifted the comm unit to his lips.   
  
"Supreme Lady, I have found her base of operations. Standing by for orders."   
  
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~   
  
Zekk shivered despite the blanket that was wrapped around him. There was darkness here and he couldn't dispel it. Djai was silent; the usually-glowing, stone dark. They had taken the Princess away from him and injected him with something. Lady Jade was in her room down the hall.   
  
Coldness touched his right shoulder and with a shriek he slammed himself into the wall to his left as he tried to escape it.   
  
His green eyes stabbed at the shadows that covered the room. The coldness touched his left cheek. Jerking his head away, he rapped it against the wall so hard his teeth rattled.   
  
A headache blossomed at the back of his mind and tears filled his eyes as he was very much a five year old. A lonely, abandoned child in a strange world… a strange world with no way out.   
  
"NOOO!!!" Zekk screamed as the coldness touched his chest.


	14. Chapter Thirteen

**Disclaimer:** Ahem. *points a gun at Jagged* Notice how he's still alive?... Well, that's cause I don't own Lucas Arts…..  
  
  
**Chapter Thirteen**   
  
  
It was night at the Palace of a Thousand Fountains. A pale light bathed the entire planet, a shadow of the day. Darkness was everywhere, but light shone faintly. The fragrance of millions of flowers wafted through on a whispering breeze. Crickets chirped and a faint buzzing from other insects harmonized with the gentle sounds of soft music. The guards were silent as they slipped down the large ornate halls filled with images of the past. Servants cleaning a delicate sculpture spoke in low tones or not at all. The royal family was asleep. Only those who had a hidden agenda were awake. Black Fighter and Ta'a Chume: a spy and the former Queen Mother.   
  
Ta'a Chume paced around the large desk in her office, her anger growing without reason. Two steps. Turn. Seventeen steps. Spin. Two steps. Spin. Six steps. Turn. Twelve steps. Turn. Twenty-one steps. Stop. Spin. Door opens.   
  
"Your Supreme Majesty-"   
  
"What?!" Ta'a Chume snapped as she whirled around, her eyes flashing with hatred.   
  
The brunette took a hasty step back and stuttered, "I wa-a-was s-s-sup-pos-s-ed to-t-to gi-g-gi-v-ve-"   
  
The Queen Mother's eyes closed briefly, _How do I always end up with the stupid ones? Why me? Why me?!_ Her eyes snapped back open and she glared fiercely at the girl. "What. Did you interrupt me for." Anger underwrote her freezing voice.   
  
The girl took a deep breath and spoke clearly; a chilling fear seemed to still her movements. "Ziaen has escaped. _Eeth__ Lor_ is no where to be found. Our military has traced the ship to Corillia, then we lost all trace of her."   
  
"WHAT?!" Ta'a Chume roared, her face a mask of wrath. There would be hell to pay.   
  
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~   
  
Zekk's breathing was labored as he strained his muscles to escape. He ran for the large door as a sense of evil satisfaction filled the room. "Nooo…" he whimpered. _**DJAI!!! DJAI, WHERE ARE YOU?!?!*_ Zekk almost sobbed as he felt the coldness of the precious stone around his neck.   
  
Zekk pounded at the door panel, a sob of frustration escaped him as it opened excruciatingly slowly. Dropping to the floor, Zekk wriggled out under the small opening as fear almost choked him. Once out of his dark room, Zekk stood clumsily to his feet and fled.   
  
Zekk's feet pounded down the hallway. He had to escape_ Him_. _He_ would kill Zekk. The five year old lowered his head and his legs pounded the floor. The Force added strength to him; _He_ was catching up.   
  
"D…jai…." Zekk's broken voice tore at Djai as the grown man struggled to reach the closest thing he had to a son.   
  
_I'm coming! _Djai screamed desperately as he tried to escape the cold, white prison that **_He_** had locked him into.   
  
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~   
  
Mara struggled valiantly against the feeling of loss as she gingerly explored the shattered remains of the bond with her Emperor. "Gone, gone, gone." She whispered in a tone that hovered between disbelief and horror.   
  
Two emotions long since repressed glided into her heart. Fear and loss. Mara had caused them. She experienced them. They defined the Lady Jade in a way that other feelings wouldn't.   
  
Slowly yet surely she pulled back from the base emotions, as an iron control slid over her weaknesses. Mara Jade, former Hand of the Emperor, lay still.   
  
Her mind ticked off the long seconds as she drifted into a half asleep state.   
  
"_Mara_… Mara…. **Mara**…." A voice called to her. Her eyes fluttered open and a glowing figure stood on her bed, leaning one shoulder against a wall.   
  
"You…" Her voice was breathless, but not shocked.   
  
"You're failing Mara. You promised. You promised _me_. And you're failing." The voice was filled with sorrow and Mara felt a blinding pain slide into her heart.   
  
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~   
  
Laedala seemed to float above the ground. Her black dress was too long and lay in a puddle on the floor around her. Two gray spears of cloth slid down from her hips to end in points at the hem. A much paler gray corset waist slid up into the black high neck and her sleeves were made from very dark gray gauzy material that betrayed the slender make of her arms. On her head a faintly luminescent silver headdress nestled gently in her hair.   
  
Her eyes were closed and her breathing was calm. It was so easy for the medics to forget that underneath her sooty, lash-rimmed eyelids two eyes glowed with an un-holy light.   
  
"How long." Her voice was quiet, warm, hard, cutting, deadly.   
  
"Not… not… not long." An exhausted medic almost stuttered. A young Twi'lek dressed in doctor's fatigues ran up and took over his station. The older being turned and slid across the floor, much like a Hutt, as he walked into the door post. "Not…. Supposed… to be there…." He muttered and inched his way out the door.   
  
Laedala waited for a few moments until the only sounds were the clacking of the keys and the air vents kicking in and stopping, kicking in and stopping, kicking in…   
  
"How long?" Her voice was quieter then before.   
  
"Not long! Not long at all!" The Twi'lek rushed, not removing his eyes from the panels in front of him. _Does she have to bug me? I'm busy, for sith's sake!_   
  
Laedala's eyes opened and the metal room took on a red tinge that sent a chill down his spine. "You're…Busy?" The Empress smiled gently as she turned her piercing crimson orbs to the bacta tank where Kyp hung in suspension. She laughed suddenly and without reason. Her strange cackle was menacing and a chill slid across the room. Kyp stirred briefly.   
  
Everything was red… red… fire… red… fire… flames… burning… death… red…   
  
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~   
  
Cait'ar sat on top of a large post, her back against the grimy wall of a darkened cantina. Her dark red hair was flipped over her shoulders but some of it still fell forward, throwing her face into shadows. A bright pink streak flowed down from each temple; _very_ bright pink streaks. A small secret grin curled the girl's sparkly-covered lips upwards as she watched her thirteen year old counterpart win the round of Sabacc yet again.   
  
"They're bluffing, Qol! You've got the best set!!" She whispered quietly, using the Force to see all of the cards.   
  
Not quietly enough it seemed. A large Wookiee roared as he pulled Qol up from his seat. [The Human is CHEATING!!]   
  
A crowd grew a little too swiftly for Cait'ar's peace of mind. Qol realized his midget sized pal had to run. "CAIT!!" he yelled over the swelling voices, "Cait! Get out of here!! Get my dad!! Just go!!"   
  
"But wha' about you?!" She yelled back, standing up and clenching her small hands into fists; looking very much like the five year old she was.   
  
"I'll survive!! Now **GO**!!"   
  
Cait screwed up her tiny face with frustration. "Hell!" she muttered under her breath. Growing frantic, she flicked her gaze over to a broken window covered with an old tattered hide of some poor thing. Cait'ar grinned and dug one hand into a pocket on her baggy pants and fished out two Very Important things.   
  
First and most importantly, a cert mint.   
  
Secondly, a sweet modified holdout blaster.   
  
Popping her sugar source [cert mint] into her mouth, she immediately raised her blaster and began firing. The angry voices quickly transformed into terrified shrieks as Cait'ar's shots hit dead center of her targets. In the time it takes to draw a breath and release it, she had killed four and a half beings.   
  
One was lying on the floor twitching. Cait'ar ignored him. The smoky interior allowed for her to almost track the blaster shots as they razed the now very dark cantina. "RUN!!" She screamed as loudly as she could.   
  
"CAI-" Qol tried to warn her, but a pale stun bolt had other ideas. The tall boy slumped to the floor with a groan and Cait'ar was surrounded.   
  
A Selonian who was standing at the base of the pillar lashed her tail a few times, a blazing light shining in her eyes. With a hiss, she extended her claws and began scrambling up the pillar in a desperate attempt to sink her teeth into the frail, hairless, cheating humanchild. Cait'ar shot her seven times at point blank range. The Selonian fell to the ground as Cait'ar fished around in another pocket desperately; her hand slid out of her pocket, clasped tightly around the silver form of a miniature thermal detonator. An evil grin crossed her face as she punched in the timer stud and lobbed it in the direction of the largest group not containing Qol.   
  
The explosion tore the room to pieces. Once the licking flames reached alcohol, the cantina's slightly controlled inferno blazed out of control.   
  
Cait'ar smiled viciously.   
  
Cait'ar C'baoth and Qol Ziaen had struck once again.   
  
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~   
  
Rosie and Carson stood in shock as all of their opposition suddenly dropped to the floor. A tall man eased around the corner, followed by a small curly-haired boy. A smile creased his face. "You two survived."   
  
"Umm… duh?" Rosie said in a tone that made it obvious that she thought he was a few cards short of a full deck.   
  
"Da – Arazune was worried that you'd die." The small boy said as he shifted a slightly modified blister blaster in his arms. "I told him you two were smart." He shrugged. "Thanks for proving my point."   
  
Rosie and Carson looked at each other with raised eyebrows then at the kid. "Who the sith are you?"   
  
"R. S. Azune. Bounty Hunter in training."   
  
Carson let out a whistle. "Sweet! Can I be one too?"   
  
"You're a girl. You can't."   
  
A deadly silence fell over the bridge. Rosie cringed; Arazune covered his eyes with one hand and groaned; Carson growled low in her throat and her eyes flashed lightening.   
  
"What?"   
  



	15. Chapter Fourteen

**Disclaimer:** Oh, didn't you hear? I was GL in a former life… What? You say that doesn't count?... Aw dammit…

  
  
**Chapter Fourteen**   
  
  
  
Mara looked at Luke's glowing form with tears in her eyes, "Hurts," she whispered inaudibly.   
  
"The past can do that to you." He knelt in front of her and just looked into her eyes. "Why Mara? Why me? Why can't you?"   
  
A harsh, dry laugh erupted from her. "One of my Emperor's many safeguards. I can't unless I have some method of centering my emotions – _He_ was my center. Now that he's gone…"   
  
"It doesn't take all that much control to use your talent, Mara." Skywalker ran one hand down her face; it was of no substance, but it felt warm and comforting.   
  
"For me it does." Her voice was as fragile as crystal and almost as quiet.   
  
Luke remained silent as his eyes slid shut. "I'm sorry…" he whispered softly and suddenly as a spearhead of blistering white suddenly sliced through her shields and destroyed her only links to the past. Her breath hissed as she felt all traces of Papetine shrivel up and fall away with even the slightest bit of encouragement from Luke. Her mind felt naked and clean – sensations that should have sent Mara Jade's skin crawling but instead made her feel secure.   
  
"Sleep…" Luke crooned quietly and darkness clouded her mind.   
  
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+   
  
A fairly tall female with bouncing chestnut curls skipped down a large staircase that descended from the roof of her mansion as the three suns set over her world. Looking around mischievously, she froze after just a few steps and strained both her ears and her Force abilities to ascertain if anyone was coming. Her aquamarine eyes glittered with suppressed glee as, to her absolute joy, found that no one was around. The slender girl threw her right leg over the warm, honey-toned rainbow wood banister and slid on down it.   
  
Seven… Six… Five… She mentally counted down the stories as she whizzed past them. Halfway between the second and first floors, she made her move.   
  
Catapulting herself off her slippery perch, she rolled three and a half times horizontally over the patterned snowwood and blackwood floor before landing on her feet in a low crouch with cat-like grace. Her cheeks were flushed a delicate pink and her eyes shone with indescribable happiness. Scrambling to her feet, she shook out the long, generous layers of her sun-hued skirts; carefully smoothing out the sheer golden overlay, she tugged at her white bodice to get it fixed into position. Her good mood was not dampened, although she did let a few choice words slip her lips as her cheeks flushed even more as she struggled with her unwilling garments.   
  
A quiet, contented sigh escaped her as she sauntered lazily over to a large, floorlength window reminiscent of the Royal Nubian style and leaned against one of the frames. The estate's extensive grounds spread out before her like a giant setting of precious stones. Her fingers reached up to her neck to toy with her seven pointed amulet, a rainbow gem surrounded by Sormahil fire gems. The fading light caught in the tiny jewels in her ring. Four Corusca jewels alternated with three ice-jewels, each no wider than the slender, silvery Mythiex band they were set in.   
  
Her mood of dancing delight slowly drained away as she thought of the dark, brooding quality of a certain pair of green eyes. Her young heart ached as she thought of the boy who held her heart. Their bond had been very quiet as of late and something told her that the reason was far more serious then normal.   
  
"Oh Qol…" she whispered softly, "Why won't you come home?..."   
  
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+   
  
Zekk fought for his every breath as he stumbled down the seemingly endless hall. _He's dead! DEAD!_ His mind cried at him, _DEAAAD__!!!_   
  
Zekk choked on a sob. He had only met Emperor Palpetine once. Now he was being stalked by his spirit.   
  
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+   
  
Ta'a Chume ran down the halls, decorum a forgotten memory of the distant past as her healthy fear spurred her on to greater speeds.   
  
_"Ziaen has escaped. Eeth Lor is no where to be found. Our military has traced the ship to Corellia, then we lost all trace of her."   
  
"Ziaen has escaped. Eeth Lor is no where to be found. Our military has traced the ship to Corellia, then we lost all trace of her."   
  
"Ziaen has escaped. Eeth Lor is no where to be found. Our military has traced the ship to Corellia, then we lost all trace of her."   
  
"Ziaen has escaped. Eeth Lor is no where to be found. Our military has traced the ship to Corellia…_   
  
The formidable woman stormed into the Head of Security's office where Yaryne Te'eth lounged in a plain, unadorned chair. "Sit down, Former Queen Mother," the official said quietly, her silky voice as emotionless as her mismatched eyes. "You're here about Ziaen."   
  
Ta'a remained standing and glared at Commander Te'eth with a fury that was almost righteous. "Yes." Her voice was clipped.   
  
"I let her escape."   
  
"You **WHAT**?!"   
  
"Holding her wasn't doing anything."   
  
"What."   
  
"Koral is a beautiful girl but Isolder wasn't interested in her any more then she was in him. She really loves Neviyn. Why I can't even be-"   
  
"Who gave you the authority." Ta'a Chume was fairly trembling with the force of her anger.   
  
"The Queen Mother."   
  
"She wouldn't dare."   
  
"Wouldn't I?" Teneniel fairly purred with satisfaction as her mother-in-law whirled, her eyes wide with shock. "Why wouldn't I send away a woman whose only job was to steal my husband? Why wouldn't I allow her safe passage back to her own beloved husband? Why wouldn't I foil your schemes and delusions of grandeur?"   
  
"Because it's not done!" Ta'a fairly yelled, her face growing faintly purple with rage.   
  
Teneniel couldn't resist; she rolled her eyes and coughed. "I see..." Her tone was amused and vague. "The Old Bat" responded predictably.   
  
Well, sort of. Teneniel hadn't anticipated a bodily assault.   
  
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+   
  
Qol's body was shaking as he awoke in the thirteen-by-five cell. His nerve endings were on fire but even that fire seemed muted, almost as though he was only feeling the ghost of the actual pain. A groan slipped out as he shifted his shoulders against the cold metal of the walls that supported his weight. A faint whimper stirred him to shunt all of his pain away from the front of his mind as he realized that Cait'ar lay next to him, her tiny body shuddering with each breath. Her face was a mass of colors – blues, blacks, greens, purples, yellows, and reds whose unnatural shades had been glassed over by tears cried and dried. Her slender form was curled up into a fetal position, with her hand gripping one of his and her head on his knee. A whimpered sob escaped from her battered and bruised body that had obviously already given too much of itself.   
  
"Oh Cait…" His voice was rough and scratchy – neither was normal. Forcing pain away, he gently tugged at Cait until he had her facing him. Sliding one arm under her knees, he wrapped the other around her shoulders and hauled her into his lap. _Oh Cait! _His mind was half crazed with pain and fear of losing her. "Cait… Don't die on me… I promised your parents I would… Oh please, Cait…"   
  
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+   
  
The guards outside cell 22-19A3 moved their eyes away from the young Jedi and her appointed guardian. When the two had been brought in, it had been assumed that they were charlatans who hoped to wriggle their way into the positions the rightful heirs held. Now they knew better. They knew that Qol and Cait were who they said they were. Just as assuredly, they knew they would die for harming Cait.   
  
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+   
  
//_Barr??__ Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarr…._// Qol jerked awake as his younger sister's hysterical screaming through their bond escalated to new heights. //_Qol!! Barr!! Qooooooooool!! Qo-_//   
  
//_What?! What?!_//   
  
Sudden waves of relief and love poured over him simultaneously. //_Where are you?? You've been shielding again, I've been forbidden to leave the house, and none of my men have been in to report!! I need to set intervals for when they need to check in,/_/ she grumbled and Qol twisted his battered face into a grin. Callis was adorable when she pouted and even more adorable when she was fuming at herself.   
  
//_Sorry, Cait and I were undercover at _Green Nebula_ when-_//   
  
//_Were??_//   
  
//_Were._//   
  
//_You got what you needed?_//   
  
//_Well, almost all of it._//   
  
//_What happened?_//   
  
Wincing, Qol relayed to the fiery-tempered female, the entire story of how he came to be where he was, where he was, and several other miscellaneous details.   
  
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+   
  
Rosie stood next to Arazune and watched as Carson methodically pounded Azune into the ground. "I – can – too – be – a – boun – ty – hunt – er!" Each pause was punctuated by a blow. Her fist to his left eye; her heel to his stomach; a hand at the back of his head smashing his face against the floor; her teeth nearly taking a piece of his arm off.   
  
Arazune was amazed. Robert had been trained since birth; two inches taller and only the Force knew how much more he weighed then his opponent. But the little four-foot-seven blonde was wiping the floor with his son, who was co-training with a little girl named Cait'ar C'baoth. Cait'ar beat Robert four times out of five but not even she had this kind of ruthless edge. He broke out into a cold sweat.   
  
After almost ten minutes of pure, unadulterated beating, Carson let Robert slid down the wall from where she had him pinned. Turning around, she finger-combed her long hair and began twisting it into a braid. Pulling out a small red hair binder, she wrapped it around the end as she turned to her taller companion. "Well?" Carson asked abruptly, her eyes shining.   
  
Rosie grinned and messed up her hair. Carson made a face and tried to brush it back in place. "You'll do Tahi. You'll do." Carson fairly glowed with pride. "Now come on, there should be a small shuttle in the hold that we can use…"   
  
Arazune jerked up from his son's inert form, fully intending to stop the girls. They were already gone.   
  
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+   
  
Carson was gasping for breath, trying to match Rosie stride for stride. "Ros–ie… Wai–ait.."   
  
Rosie instantly slowed her pace, "Sorry," she said easily, turning around so she could run backwards. "I sometimes forget that I'm taller then most kids."   
  
Carson's skeptical look told her that she didn't believe it.   
  
"Honest!" Rosie protested, "I almost never get to go into port, and all the kids who are on board are slaves or killed." Rosie screwed up her face. "It's no fun. Although I can shoot a TIE interceptor in under ten seconds! That's one of the only perks."   
  
Carson couldn't even find the energy to shake her head at Rosie. _Rosie is baffling_, she admitted   
  
"Aha!" Rosie crowed triumphantly as she turned and raced full speed down the hall. About a minute later, she came speeding back on a swoopbike. "Come on Tahi."   
  
"Thanks," Carson gasped, trying to figure out what the fuzzy, blurry dots in front of her vision were doing there.   
  
"Heh, I need _somebody_ to co-pilot with me." Rosie grinned as she punched up the throttle and gunned down the long hall way. Carson closed her eyes against both mysterious flecks and the rushing air.   
  
Finally, Rosie stopped and waved a hand grandly, almost smacking Carson in the mouth. "Welcome, to my personal shuttle, _Darkened Days_!!"


	16. Chapter Fifteen

**Disclaimer: **Okay. I don't own Lucas Arts!! GRR!! Oh, and, this is un-beta'ed but everyone seems to think it's all right….

  
**Chapter Fifteen**   
  
  
Callis slipped from the shadow-strewn courtyard and raced to the large dark blob that marked the presence of her modified-for-atmosphere-X-wing-turned-hovercraft. Scrambling up into the pilot's seat, she checked her black sash and was gratified to see the three small Corusca jewels wink at her in the moonlight. Beginning the pre-flight sequence, she scrambled down the check list, trusting her men to have taken care of the outer portion of requirements for her ship. "Okay JadeSeeker," she whispered, "Lets go break our bird out..."   
  
"I am assuming that you mean that we should set forth and liberate Qol from the vile beings that are currently holding him captive against his will?" Her droid asked in a prissy, irritating, female voice.   
  
"Grrr… Yes JadeSeeker." Callis grumbled, looking up at the starry banner of the night sky."   
  
"Ah. Then yes Mistress lets go break him out."   
  
And the ship sliced through the hydro-oxygen atmosphere of the planet, streaking towards the caverns of the Pirate Queen… and Qol.   
  
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+   
  
Javen and Tenel Ka were lying inside a room that was more water then walls. Javen was "displaying marvelous skills beyond his age realm" by sitting up and looking curiously around the room. Tenel Ka, for her part, was trying to get her eyes to focus on a branch that twisted in and around itself in a never ending puzzle. Her almost-crossed, blue eyes were fading into a grey that left you feeling breathless.   
  
"Naaaa!" she squealed in frustration and hurled it across the room.   
  
"Meehhhh…" whined Javen, almost as though on cue, as one of the nursemaids clenched her teeth and strove not to scream.   
  
"Bless the Maker are they… ooooorrrrrrggggg…" She muttered darkly even as she strained her facial muscles into repose of relaxation and kindness with which she approached the so called twins. "There, there…" she cooed mindlessly.   
  
Javen and Tenel Ka sensed the teeming emotions that were barely under control and screamed in fear; something dark was in this woman and all they knew was that letting her touch them was a baaaad idea.   
  
Teneniel stormed into the room, her storm colored eyes flashing with anger directed at the entire Hapen cluster and their idiotic rules.   
  
"Queen Mother?" The nurse asked anxiously as she jerked back from the "twins".   
  
"Remove yourself." She hissed, "And do not return, I shall care for them."   
  
"Yes Queen Mother…" She bowed low and backed out of the room, reminding Teneniel of a turtle. This frivolous image in her minds eye only served to infuriate the flame haired Queen even more. No sooner had the door closed behind the nurse then Teneniel caught up an elegant brocade pillow and screamed into it, Javen and Tenel Ka exchanged a skeptical knowing glance.   
  
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+   
  
"Let me take a wild guess that in a few seconds I'm going to desperately want to pull you circuit from measly circuit and then carefully, oh so carefully, re-wire you to panic every two seconds and inspire every being you come across to rip you apart again..." Mirax Terrik hissed at the R7 droid as her fingers fairly flew over the console, the droid gave an indignant bleep and their ship slowly glided away from Kessel. Mirax tried so hard to act casual, defying every emotion that demanded that she immediately jump into lightspeed. _Please let us escape please don't catch us please let us escape please don't catch us please…_ The endless refrain echoed ceaselessly through her mind, putting on even more of an edge then she was currently.   
  
As the stars stretched into starlines, Mirax sat still, hoping against hope that they had gotten away with it. _Please say he's safe…_ Her heartfelt prayer flew off and then a flurry of bangs from further back on her ship launched her from her seat. Mirax's eyes were wide as she scrambled to reach her largest smuggling compartments, her heart calming as she saw her father lift himself from it. "Dad!" she cried with relief as she raced towards him.   
  
The tall man jumped to his feet and back, trying to regain his balance as his daughter threw her arms around him and just about crushed his ribs, knocking both of them over. "Oohh… Mirax…" Booster groaned lightly, making it sound much worse then it really was – teasing, Mirax realized with a wide grin.   
  
"I've missed you dad." She said quietly, tears glistening in her beautiful eyes.   
  
"I've missed you too, and I'm glad you got me out of those smuggling compartments, those things double as torture chambers. Frellin' Banthas Mirax, places like those are liable to make a man claustrophobic!" He deadpanned as one large hand crept up her side and tickled her mercilessly, her squeals of delight rebounded off the walls.   
  
"Uncle?" He challenged her.   
  
"Uncle! Uncle! Uncle!" She screamed; her face red with laughter, her face and throat sore from her wide grin and merriment.   
  
With a fond smile, Booster allowed her to escape "The Tickling Monster Fingers" that had haunted in her childhood. His mood became pensive. "Do you realize that, that was the first time since CorSec locked me away that I've had reason to smile?" He asked his little girl, his eyes locked on something far away. Mirax's breath hitched as she realized her father had missed her just as terribly as she had missed him. "The worst was not being able to see you… It was life in hell. As if Kessel wouldn't be hell enough." He said wryly, shaking off the mood from the past. "But now that's behind me." A look of awe crossed his lined face. "I'm free."   
  
And he was.   
  
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+   
  
Carson sat on the edge of the wide bunk of her new quarters, a yawn escaped her and she didn't even think of trying to hide it.   
  
"...that you'll like it here!" Rosie finished her two-minute-one-breath speech with a flourish.   
  
Carson raised her eyebrows as a wry expression crossed her face, "You done yet?"   
  
"Yes Blondie, I'm done." Rosie stuck her tongue out at the sleepy blonde.   
  
"Don'a call me 'Blondie'." Carson grumbled; more then ready for sleep. A gigantic yawn split her tiny, oval face and Rosie snickered. Carson eyed Rosie warily as the dark haired girl bounced from foot to foot, still hyper for some reason unknown to the blonde. "Stop bouncing…" She yawned again and Rosie suddenly attacked her, her fingers tickling Carson's newly clean feet, sending Carson into fits of giggles. Carson's wet hair made whistling sounds as she shook her head, laughing hysterically and tried to escape Rosie's Questing Tickling Fingers. Finally pinning herself up against the wall, Carson managed to get a deep enough breath, "S-stop!" She dissolved into giggles again as Rosie experimented with the Force and discovered that even though Carson was digging her toes into the blankets on her bunk, if she used the Force she could tickle the bottoms of her feet.   
  
"Haha! I win!" Rosie exulted.   
  
"N-no!" Carson laughed, "Noooo-o!"   
  
"Yes!"   
  
Carson rolled off the bed and bounced back against the wall on the other side of the room, "No!"   
  
"Yes!"   
  
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"**_NO_**!!!"   
  
"**_YES_**!!!"   
  
"**_NO_**!!!"   
  
"**_YEEEEEEEEEEEEES_**!!!" Rosie's face was crimson from screaming and Carson slumped backwards, exhausted even more then before.   
  
"Na fair…" Carson muttered as she stumbled back to her bed and fell onto it, not really caring where she landed. "G'night Rosie…" She mumbled sleepily, one hand groping for her pillow.   
  
Rosie smiled fondly, then messed up Carson's wild mane of blonde hair. "G'night Carson, don't worry about a thing. Me 'an Dankin can take care of it. I might even get to pilot!"   
  
"Me wants to pilot…" Carson mumbled, already half-asleep.   
  
"G'night Carson…" Rosie said softly as she lowered the light level and closed the door to Carson's quarters softly behind her, slipping off to the ships helm where one of the survivors from Karrde's organization awaited her.   
  
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+   
  
Shada D'ukal walked down the street, alone for the first time since she had joined the Mistryl all those years ago. Her childhood vision of the Order now shattered; they now catered to the highest bidder, they were hired assassins; killers. That's all they were. And that's all they wanted to be.   
  
She shivered as a spike of cold lanced down her spine. The shadows pressed against her and she knew that her life had changed.   
  
Whether it was good or not.   
  
Shada savagely shook her head, making her long black tresses bounce. Her stride lengthened and she melted into the shadows, sliding around light and buildings, no destination in mind.   
  
A faint whimper teased her ears and she halted, it sounded like a child. Shada gritted her teeth. It was easily five degrees Celsius outside and from the sound of the child, it knew that from experience. Alerting all her senses, she began hunting for the lost one.   
  
_Even if the Order of the Mistryl is corrupted,_ Shada promised to herself, _I will uphold their ideals. This is my vow and my creed, let me die carrying it out._   
  
With a grim smile, Shada D'ukal glided off into the darkness to in search of the cry.


	17. Chapter Sixteen

**Disclaimer:** Don't own it. Just play with it. :-D

  
**Chapter Sixteen**   
  
  
Shada D'ukal sat on the edge of the ratty mattress and lowered her face into her hands. One week. Just one week. One week and her life had been entirely, inescapably, turned upside down. A week ago she had been a bodyguard in the employment of the smuggler Mazzic. Then the Mistryl had contracted his death. Shada took a grim pleasure in the fact that the Mistryl had considered her a large enough threat to warrant sending seven of their number. She growled with satisfaction, her face slowly rising from her hands as she remembered how she had managed to disable four of the seven before they subdued her. And even then, they cheated by using a stun blast. _Mazzic__… _Shada berated herself yet again as she thought of her now-dead employer.   
  
The small, malnourished human child that Shada had found huddled in a black alleyway behind a filth-ridden cantina where the cleanest thing was the smoky air groaned low in her sleep. Her grimy face was growing slick with sweat that reduced the dust and smudges to a sludge-like substance. "No..." Her innocent, pain-filled voice cracked as though her vocal cords were broken and incapable of carrying any sounds. "No, master..." The fear and apprehension on her face twisted Shada's heart into a knot that she wasn't sure that would ever be able to become unwound.   
  
"Shh, Little One..." Shada said softly, scooting over to sit by the girl. "It's all right... It's all right..." Shada laid one hand on the girl's forehead and yanked it right back as she encountered the dry, crackling heat that one would expect from a clay abode on Tatooine during the noon hour - not from a child's forehead.   
  
"NOO!!!" A pair of startlingly dark blue eyes flew open as the child jerked up from her reclining position and flinched instinctively away from Shada. Shada's eyes darkened as she took in the yellow, green, purple, red, and black bruises that showed up with painful clarity against the almost translucent white skin of the young girl's body.   
  
"Ma-mas-s-ster?" She whimpered almost pathetically, pressing her back against the wall, her bony knees drawn up to her chest. Her eyes, now out of the shadows, paled to an odd teal color as they raced to the door, to Shada's face, back to the door, to Shada… _It's almost like she expects to be-_   
  
"You're free, kid." Shada said quietly, stopping her thoughts before they went down **that** path.   
  
"Ma-master?" The girl raised one hand to shove a lank strand of filthy brown hair out of her wide eyes. Suddenly the feel of the rough fibers of the blanket attracted her attention – her eyes widened to enormous proportions and she fairly threw the blanket away from her. "I-I'm so-s-so sor-r-ry Madam… I didn't filch the blankie… I didn't… Please don't hit me…" she held her left arm across her chest, bowed her face into her knees and attempted to shield her head with her right arm.   
  
Shada's heart twisted up again, _How dare they do this to her? She acts like I'll beat her! For sleeping with a blanket!_ Her anger was being brought up to a boiling point. "Who hurt you?" Her voice was dangerously soft and emotionless, her green eyes blazing with a power that took the girl's breath away when she glanced up. "Who." Shada began unconsciously fingering one of her many Zana M6W-9 molecular stiletto blades; the small human saw it. She jerked back in fright from Shada. It only took the Mistryl a moment to understand what had so affected the girl, and a pang of sorrow sliced her to the marrow. _Damn the Sithspawn who did this to her!_ Shada thought furiously.   
  
"No-n-n-no one Madam…" Her body was racked with chills and Shada cursed the people who had done this to her yet again.   
  
Silence reigned in the room; the passage of time was marked only by the never-ending drip from a faulty sonic shower head in the refresher and the occasional ragged breath from the smaller of the two females.   
  
"What's your name, Madam?" The girl finally asked hesitantly, her curiosity overcoming all of her training.   
  
"Shada D'ukal. What are you called?"   
  
"The new ones called me Sqerrum, but-"   
  
"SQERRUM!!" An angry roar echoed through the room as the door was flung open and a furious Abyssin stormed into the former sanctuary, followed by a nervous Bith. "You'll get the bacta-treatment for this." His voice dropped several decibels and the small girl shook violently.   
  
"Yes sir, Master…" Her lower lip trembled as tears welled up in her suddenly dark green eyes.   
  
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+   
  
Shada stared at the credchip in her hand, then tried to drag her attention to the Abyssin who was talking to her. "…for finding It. It's new and has yet to learn It's place."   
  
"It was no trouble at all…" Shada murmured, her mind racing for a way to get the girl away from this beast. "It did seem a little bright to be a slave though."   
  
The Bith spoke up, "We only found it about a standard month ago – before that, It really had a cushy life. But we've almost cured It of that."   
  
Shada's hunter instinct kicked in, "Oh?" Her tone and inflection were all innocence. The Bith fell for it, hook, line, and sinker, Shada realized as she covered her smirk with her hand.   
  
"We '_found_' It in a shack on the far side of the town," The creature explained, rubbing his arm where a patch of skin didn't look quite like the rest.   
  
"How many beings did you kill?" Shada hazarded a guess.   
  
"In the upwards of twenty-five. It was one wild karrde, let me tell you," the Bith said sneakily, winking at Shada.   
  
"She's Karrde's kid?" Shada could feel her eyebrows climbing even as she cursed them.   
  
"What's it to you if It is?" The Abyssin snarled as he slammed a thick hand into the back of the Bith's head. "This'n talks too much," he growled.   
  
"I know," Shada purred.   
  
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+   
  
Booster fairly bounced down the boarding ramp. "C'mon Mirax!" he demanded, grinning from ear to ear. "There's this whole new world just _waiting_ for me to swindle them out of their money!"   
  
Mirax groaned good-naturedly as she strode easily after her father. "Why did I ever let you have chocolate? Why oh why oh why did I??"   
  
"Cause I already had it half made once you caught me," he quipped.   
  
Mirax shot him an amused glare – then gave up trying to look mad and laughed. Booster felt a warm glow at the sight of his daughter laughing. "Force, you look so much like your mother, Mirax. So much." His eyes misted over nostalgically.   
  
Her lopsided grin was so bittersweet it didn't even look like a grin. "Thanks, Dad."   
  
"Welcome, Angel." Booster pressed a kiss to his little girl's forehead. "Now! Lets go rob somebody blind!"   
  
"Oh yes – let's!" Mirax said helplessly, throwing her hands up in the air as her father scampered off in search of a victim.   
  
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+   
  
"You want **WHAT**???" The Pirate Queen yelled, her aquamarine eyes shooting sparks hot enough to burn Kashyyyk to the ground in no time.   
  
[Freedom,] One of her men said gruffly.   
  
"Yeah! And, and, and lots an lots of credits!" A short, hyper human with an attention deficit disorder and the unusual condition in which the color grey will induce extreme hyperness on the aforementioned person joined in. It's a pity really, I mean, nearly everything underground is grey...   
  
"You're mad," she said with soft, cold, certainty.   
  
"And what if we are? Huh? What then?? Being underground can do that to a guy! Yes it can! But I don't think you'd have ever thought of it! Or did ya, huh? Huh? Did ya??" the excitable one squeaked.   
  
The thirteen-year-old crimelord rolled her eyes as seven of her Noghri caretakers/bodyguards… um… "disposed" of the two very much former employees.   
  
Then without a backward glance, she gave the order to release the boy she called "Dreamer" and his ward.   
  
A faint glow started in her heart. _He'll be free…_   
  
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+   
  
Mara laid in her bed for several long minutes without moving, carefully trying to control her raging, burned mind. A mental touch through a bond had her sighing with relief as the fires were suddenly quelled. Her body now lay still simply to soak up the sensation of freedom from, well, everything. The play of the shadows on the high ceiling held her captivated and slowly lulled her to an almost sleep state.   
  
Something triggered her reflexes as she suddenly threw off her blankets with one kick and rolled into a crouch. Carefully scooting backwards until her spine gently banged into the wall, she called a small handheld blaster to herself.   
  
The door to her bed chamber cracked open, spilling a slender strand of pale light down. A slight shadow grew across her floor, obliterating the light. The form took on a small shape, and then the door closed abruptly. The form lost shape and melted into the shadowy darkness of the large room.   
  
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+   
  
Jaina slept, her young mind drugged so badly that even the overwhelming panic that slammed through her bond with the green-eyed boy didn't faze her.   
  
A mental picture was sent to her through the now raw bond – a beautiful woman with red-gold hair and gleaming green eyes pointing a blaster at the little boy, now cowering in a corner. Her voice was emotionless as she said, "For the Empire…"   
  
Jaina Nyx pulled her nursemaids from their slumber as well as everyone within a two hundred meter radius as her screams of unadulterated panic filled the cold, recycled air of Coruscant.


	18. Chapter Seventeen

**Roz**

_Hey dude! U've been pushin me for a while so i finally started writin sw stuff again._

is stunned It's… It's… It's the Goddess!! And she's on **MY** fic!!! happy squeal bows down

_gritted teeth and i am not a goddess, get up off __ur__ knees!_

You are too a goddess!! is stubborn hops up What ever you say!! You're the Goddess!! ;-)

_ur__ writin is just as good, ifnot better. so yeah, just lettin u know that i got kinda a new sw fic up...its going slowly though, sorry..._

My writing doesn't even COMPARE with yours, hun. ;-) I've checked. REALLY!? is sooo behind Right! I'm on it!! scampers off

_hey__, all __ur__ stories are completely AU with all OC characters, nice goin! I find that pretty hard to do! congratulations! keep writing dudette! _

The opposite is true for me – I can barely manage to keep the Cannon kiddies going. Only reason it's working is 'cause they'll be AU versions of them. :-P

**Björn******

_This is awesome. Please keep writing!_

turns bright red Aww, thanks!! I am, trust me. I am.

_eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeekkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk_

****

**Chapter Seventeen**  
  
The Bith jerked the small girl's arm painfully. So you thought you could run away from us, eh? Who helped you? Who?  
  
"Ow…" Eire whimpered, her eyes dissolving into a pain-filled blue grey as the shorter of her two owners attempted to make a scrawny knot out of her delicate arm.  
  
It was the street brat wasn't it? Jo, I think you called him? Well, Sqerrum? Was it? The Abyssian hissed angrily. Bah, it doesn't matter. You'll get the bacta treatment – just as soon as we unload the dame.  
  
Eire felt her ears almost visibly prick up at this. Her master's had found a new victim? Who? Where had they found The Dame? What was a dame, anyways? Her line of thought irked her and she tried to be invisible. Invisible. Keeping her head down, she began to hum the tune of the highly popular song "Invisible" softly under her breath. A sudden crash from her left had her jumping into the air, her pale green eyes wide as her heart thundered to a tempo that made her lightheaded.  
  
The Bith snarled a curse and wheeled off to check on the damage while the Abyssian backhanded Eire, sending her flying backwards into the fired clay wall. Her skull bounced against the rock hard surface and her teeth rattled in her head as sparks flew in front of her eyes.  
  
The Abyssian's eye narrowed as he glared at her. You had better not be too badly damaged…  
  
Eire's ten-year-old protector tightened her hands into fists. "Well, if you wouldn't throw her up against walls, she wouldn't _be_ damaged!" she fairly snarled, her pale brown eyes snapping with fury. A slight vibration against the bottom of her rib cage had the tall girl doubled over with suppressed giggles as she pulled out the tiny commlink and held it to her ear. "Yeah?"  
  
"Mum and Dad just realized you were gone. What's the cover story?"  
  
"I had to go do something."  
  
"That's not going to cut it with them, Aliané," her older brother said warningly. "They aren't that dumb."  
  
"So says you," she retorted, then sighed. "Jer, I know… But Eire needs me right now! Cyclops just threw her into a wall, and before that, Yoda-bug tried to turn her arm into a pretzel!" Aliané said dramatically, waving one arm in the air.  
  
Her brother laughed, and suddenly choked as a rush of air signaled her that something was wrong. "Aliané Chaeli Joran! Where in the name of the Force are you?" Her mother's voice came over loud and clear, irate too now that you mention it.  
  
Aliané froze, her dark brown curls swaying gently in the breeze as her mind tried to rationalize the theory that if she didn't move, her mother wouldn't know it was her.  
  
"Aliané, I will say this once, and once only. Get yourself home this second."  
  
"Mum I can't!" she burst out, frightened by the biting edge in her mother's voice. "Eire needs me!"  
  
"Eire? Is Eire the boy you keep sneaking out to see?"  
  
"No," Aliané said both firmly and truthfully. _Well, it is the truth. __Eire__ is _not_ a boy I keep sneaking off to see… She's a girl…Not that it would matter to Mum…_  
  
Her mother sighed exasperatedly, "Fine. I want you home in an hour though. Do **not** be late."  
  
"I'll do my best."  
  
"Oh, please do." The connection snapped shut and Aliané jumped slightly.  
  
"Oh boy…" She sighed. "This is just great."  
  
Some forty-seven kilometers away, Jerrick Iedor Joran was hurriedly working on a surprise for his sister, Aliané, or Jo as she sometimes preferred to be called. His black hair had the distracting habit of falling in front of his eyes. He wished, not for the last time, that he could cut his hair which fell almost to his shoulders. Jer sighed and shrugged his thin shoulders; Mum would have a conniption fit if he cut it. His dark brown eyes sparkled with merriment as he pictured the look on her face should his hair ever be as short as he wished it to be. Leaning back in his chair, he stretched his long legs encased in black trousers that were growing too short for his lanky form. Reaching his arms up, he extended his hands like he wanted to touch the ceiling. The hem of his pale blue Armorweave shirt rose a few inches and he made a mental note to have new clothes fitted to him. Straining his ears, he realized his mother was currently not on the third floor. Quickly standing up, he padded barefoot over to a small box he kept by his bed and opened it swiftly. Reaching one arm back, he slid a small datapad out of its holder on the small of his spine and into the box, which he then locked with cold precision. With a grin Jer ran his hands through his ebony strands and sauntered smugly back to his desk. He was almost done with the survey when his mother came into his room. The hairs on the back of his neck rose and he knew she was here to quiz him on the whereabouts of Aliané and who his little sister was with. Swallowing a lump in his throat, he kept his head down and completed the rest of the questions, then closed the message and prepared to send it off.  
  
"What is that?" Choen Joran asked her eleven year old son.  
  
"It's a survey to enter the '**Spend A Week With Garik**' contest drawing. I figured if I won, I could take Aliané with me." Jer entered in the password to his account and sent the holo message off, then sighed. He was dead meat…  
  
"Ah. Very well." his mother's voice hardened. "Now, tell me who Eire is, where your sister is, and why you were helping her." The worry in his mother's eyes was almost his undoing. Holding his resolve firm, he shook his head.  
  
"Sorry Mum, I can't," Jer said, staring off at nothing as he moved over to his bed and slumped down on top of the Ramordian Silk comforter.  
  
"Jerrick Iedor Joran," his mother ranted, "you will tell me everything you know, this minute!!"  
  
Jer shot up and gave his mother a pleading look. "Mum, I promised Jo I wouldn't!"  
  
"And don't call her 'Jo'. That is a male name and I will **not** permit Aliané to make such a horrid mistake."  
  
"She likes to be called Jo."  
  
"I said I forbid it."  
  
Jer sighed, wishing for the hundredth time that he knew where Aliané was. _Is Eire really worth it?_ he asked his sister silently. He knew what her answer would be.  
  
_Yes._  
  
Jer sighed again and set about to reason with his mother.  
  
Booster Terrik was furious. He only had fourteen hundred credits so far and he'd already been on Merisee for two standard hours! Oh, yeah, and Mirax had been kidnapped. As far as he was concerned, the whole bloody galaxy was out for his head. His red cybernetic eye swept around the room, showing up flat on the walls, glossing on curls, flat on the wall again – wait. Curls? Booster swung his eyes back to the small woman and he stared intently for a few moments. She was lithely built, and rather short. Her dark brown hair was swept up into a ponytail with masses of Zenji needles stabbed through the base of it while the rest of her curling locks hung freely down to nearly the small of her back. She was wearing a pale blue-grey sleeveless tunic made from Armorweave that fell almost to her knees and was buckled at the waist with a wide belt. Her boots were black and glossy; her legs were encased by a pair of pants made from the same type of cloth as her tunic. The hem of her tunic, down the sides of her legs, and the cuffs of her pant legs were embroidered with a mixture of two colors of Searous hair; one a brilliant gold thread and another whose color was deeper then fresh blood.  
  
His eyes narrowed as they fixated on a bulge on her left thigh, and then on a second one on her right ankle. A grim look crossed his face as he realized that the small woman was packing a blaster and several vibroblades. _What in the name of the Force are we coming to?_ Booster shook his head warily, then called in a low voice, "Hands in the air and identify yourself."  
  
She froze.  
  
Booster drew his own blaster. "NOW."  
  
She held her hands up so swiftly, it almost seemed that her arms and torso were no longer linked. She turned slowly, as though she was afraid of incurring his wrath. Which, in all honesty, she probably was. "Okay, now who are you?" He asked gruffly.  
  
"I- I'm Jo." She said carefully. Booster stared at her, she couldn't be more then twelve.  
  
"Emperor's black bones, how old are you?" He was still in shock.  
  
"Ten?"  
  
"TEN??"  
  
"Uh, duh?"  
  
"Ten."  
  
"Ten."  
  
"You're sure you're ten."  
  
"I'm sure I'm ten."  
  
"Very, very sure?"  
  
"Very, very, very sure."  
  
"Absolutely positive?"  
  
"Absolutely positive."  
  
"And what are you doing here, little Jo?"  
  
Her honey-brown eyes narrowed. "None of your business."  
  
"On the contrary, I'm the one with the blaster – it is very much so my business."  
  
"So?"  
  
He sighed, "Jo, I need to get my daughter out, and you're holding me up. I am giving you one standard minute to tell me what you're doing here before I shoot you."  
  
"You wouldn't dare."  
  
"Since this is on stun, yeah. I would. And you only have fifty-three more seconds."  
  
Jo bit her lip in consternation. "Forty-seven more." Booster informed her coolly.  
  
"All right all right all right!!" she cried out.  
  
"Forty seconds."  
  
"I'm here because I need to save Eire." Her tone was sullen – not that it mattered a whit to Booster.  
  
"And Eire is…?" Booster trailed off questioningly.  
  
Shada slid around the edge of the building, her anger gone and in its place, a cold desire for retribution. Her senses straining, she crept closer to the house where the small girl – Sque-something-or-other – was being held. Against her will more then likely, Shada grumbled.  
  
"WHAT?" A male voice suddenly roared from her right. Shada barely contained her jump of fear. Someone shushed the man and the voices dropped several decibels.  
  
Against her better judgment, she was drawn over to the corner where the people were. Her eyes widened at the sight: a man about seventy six inches tall with brown hair that was turning a pewter color at the sides was pointing a blaster at a slightly built brunette girl. Girl. Not a woman – a child. Shada wondered cynically what it was with her and small girls who end up in trouble. Sighing inaudibly, Shada reached up into her hair, pulled a Zenji needle free from her curling black tresses, and hurled it at the blaster. A ghost of satisfaction settled over her as she watched it pierce the power pack with a shrill _zing_.  
  
The man whirled, his red cybernetic eye piercing hers and Shada took an involuntary step back with a cry as the brilliant beam seared her cornea. The man bit off a curse and the girl almost ran to her side.  
  
"I say, are you all right?" The girl asked rather shocked, undertones of a Imperial up-bringing staining her voice. The man seemed less enthusiastic as he approached her.  
  
"Yeah," Shada shook her head, trying to rid herself of the red sun stars that floated in front of her vision.  
  
"Sorry." The man muttered. Shada felt her ire grow at his indifference.  
  
"Oh don't worry," she said patronizingly. "I'm sure that you didn't mean to do that."  
  
He glared at her without saying a word.  
  
"After all, if you'd been thinking, you would have known better then to actually aim a blaster at a kid."  
  
"Kid?" The man looked confused. Shada snorted. How typical.  
  
"Let me guess, you want to know how I went from a young female human to a beast?"  
  
He glared at her again, "You think you're pretty smart."  
  
"No, I know I am," she replied honestly.  
  
Drop the blaster, A rasping voice ordered. Or the human woman is dead.  
  
"Who?" The man snapped as he spun around, obviously trying to give himself a whiplash and end up in the hospital.  
  
"Mhm! Dad!" Shada looked at the struggling dark haired girl – er, woman. Sithspit. This was not going according to plan. At. All.  
  
Eire was panicking. Alianè had come after her. So had Mistryl D'ukal. So had the dark-haired woman's father. The dark-haired woman who had been given almost three hours of the bacta treatment.  
  
Her dark blue eyes darted from Cyclops to the girl he held in his arms with a blaster pointed at her head, to Alianè, to the woman with pointy colored sticks poking into her hair, to the tall man with a cybernetic eye.  
  
_Kriff.__ Kriff, kriff, kriff, kriff, kriff, kriff. KRIFF._  
  
Oh, it's you, Cyclops said, relief flooding his one eye.  
  
Shada flipped up, a grimacing smile on her face.  
  
What are you doing here?  
  
"I came to see It."  
  
Huh?  
  
"She's coming with me."  
  
Callis raced headlong down the pristine metal corridor, "Qol! Qol! Qol!" her seeking voice rebounding back at her.  
  
Her heart beat wildly, _What if he's hurt? What if he can't hear me? What if they've killed him? Oh… What if they've hurt Cait'ar? That would kill, Qol! And what if –  
  
"Callis!!"  
  
"Qol!"_ Her aquamarine eyes flashed with sheer elation. "You're alive!"  
  
Her twin brother laughed merrily as she slammed into him, wrapping her arms around his chest. "Oof.…"  
  
Cait lay in a small heap on the floor, her battered body curled in a fetal position as she tried to repel the dreams that attacked her subconscious. Her bruises still stood out like flags on a rampart. Callis caught her breath. "Is… Is she alright??"  
  
"She will be. I hope." Qol said grimly.  
  
Cait groaned; Qol and Callis both felt their hearts clench. _Oh Cait......_


	19. Chapter Eighteen

•'´)   
¸.•´¸.•´¨) ¸.•)   
(¸.•´ (¸.•´ ¸.•´   
¸.•´¸.••-» **Chapter Eighteen**   
(¸.•"

A tall young man took a deep, supposedly calming, breath and held it for a moment. Then let it out explosively and ran his hands through his perfectly trimmed hair. "I can do this… I can do this…" He caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror and groaned. "Oh I can't do this..."

The pale streams of light traced the angular lines of his room and furniture. His back was to the window, and his face was heavily shadowed. His lean frame of six foot one was clad in a pristine outfit that consciously emulated Han Solo, former leader of the now-fallen New Republic. The blaster was missing, and rather then red Corellian bloodstripes, he had twin gleaming bars of silver running down the side of his pants. The black shoes were glossed to a reflective state and his white shirt gleamed like a star in the early morning. The vest lay over the back of a chair and showed no promise of being moved any time soon. His burnt-sienna colored locks glowed softly as the sun rose ever-so-surely. His warm summer tan seemed to trap the fiery rays under his skin that were then released carefully through his cool grey eyes that smoldered with tightly controlled power. In short, he looked as close to a god as any mortal can get.

Garik Klamath looked over at a holo picture on his wall; it showed a dark haired woman holding a small ginger-haired boy on her lap, and a man with hair a few shades lighter then Garik's own. They were laughing. They were happy. They were a _family_. It was _his_ family. Then… Then came the Divorce.

Garik's mind shuttered away, locking the memories of the wedge that had driven his family apart away in some dark recess. It had been a long and messy divorce between his mother Vhivianne Trisst, a member of the Senate, and his father, Garen Muln Jr. a successful lawyer. It had ended with his father getting next to nothing while Vhivianne got the bulk of their money, close to four million credits in all, their Coruscant high-rise living arrangements, the family starship and sole custody of their son. Garen was granted forty thousand credits and an office in Borsk Fey'lya's hometown. Garik had seriously contemplated killing his mother after that. After his father had wrung a promise to spare his mother's life out of him, Garik had gone home to find his mother re-married. She had apologized, she hadn't planned on getting married… but she was pregnant. And she would not tolerate his last name; he would go by his stage name, Garik Klamath.

Garik's heart had died then.

His world crashed and burned that mild summer, leaving his life lying about on the ground in fragments tiny beyond comprehension. All that was left was a burning hunger for his parents' love and approval coupled with a desperate desire to be able to experience _living_ again. All of his attempts to contact his father outside of their every other monthly meetings were rebuffed – Vhivianne had threatened to move Garik to Tatooine if Garen allowed it. A towering resentment towards his mother had grown, then toppled as he found he could not in all justice hate her. She was his mother. On second thought, he hated her.

In retaliation he threw himself into his work, cooking up close to 7.5 million credits in a little less then eight months. Four of his holos were up for awards this year; one for Best Romantic Drama of the Year and another was for Best Action Drama of the Year. He was also up for Best Leading Actor. Even still, he still felt lost; his family was shattered, though his work life was great. _Was it a worthy trade? Not by a long shot, _he thought grimly.

Garik stared unseeingly out his window as the sun rose inexorably, seemingly in stasis as his mind stumbled and reeled, trying to escape the burning pain the past year had wrought.

And so the dawn came, shining its brilliant rays onto the shattered man-child who cried softly for his broken family.

"Master Garik?" A nasal voice intruded on his tears. "Was there something you needed?" the pompous man trussed up in a serving outfit asked from an open archway in the wall.

"A different life?" The teenaged holo star muttered darkly under his breath. Then, with a sigh, Garik shook off his emotions and slid seamlessly into his role as dutiful son. Turning his head slightly, he shot one of his million-credit smiles at the major domo. "Not from you, Ab-duk-rah-man." He shook his head. "Sakes alive, can't you get a name change??"

"You wish for me to change my name, sir?" Abdukrahman asked in a rather puzzled tone of voice.

"Oh never mind, Abduct…"

The man stiffened visibly, "Abduct, sir?"

"My new nickname for you," Garik waved one hand negligently at his servant while pinching the bridge of his nose with the other. "Man… Life hates me…" Garik grumbled, sounding very much like the teenager he was, keeping the despair that threatened to engulf him under tight control.

"Dah-ling..." A low drawling voice preceded Vhivianne Klamath, Garik's nine-month-pregnant mother. "Ah wanted to see if yuh needed inathin' bafo' the conference…"

Garik rolled his eyes, "Mother, there are no politicians around… You don't have to keep up with the 'southern drawl' thing – I promise not to tell anyone," he added mockingly.

"Gahrik," she said formally, "Yuh will leahn with time that one should nevea, evea drop one's act. It could prove deadly." Her dark brown eyes sparkled as she dropped the act and once again returned to her casual way of speech that betrayed her Tatooine origins.

"Mom-"

"…Mother," she corrected with an iron note.

"Fine. Mother. I don't need anything that couldn't be fixed by skipping this meeting. And I don't think you should be walking around – the doctor doesn't know why your child hasn't come yet and that's starting to make me nervous."

She sniffed, "Ah see. Au revoir, mah son." And with that she swept from the large, sunlit room.

----

Rosie sat in the copilot seat, watching the controls with fixated fascination. "Dankin, what that steady red LED for?" she asked, her brow furrowing in confusion.

He bit off a harsh-sounding word and she jerked her head around to look at him, "It's nothing. Ignore it." The words more then anything else tipped her off.

"Dankin… What. Is. It. For."

"Nothing you need to concern yourself with."

Rosie sighed and looked down at her shoes. "Well ex-_cuse_ me… I just wanted to know!" She tried her hardest to make lil' ewok eyes at him. "Pretty pretty please?"

"No."

She glared. "Tell me now!"

He glared back. "No. Now sit down before you hurt yourself," Dankin muttered in frustration.

"I'm not standing up!!" Rosie almost yelled as she jumped to her feet.

Dankin speared her with a look that plainly said "I'm-not-amused-now-do-whatever-it-is-I-said-you-have-to-do-and-nobody-will-be-hurt". "Tyrael, I gave you an order."

"It's my ship. I sit down when I want and I don't want to sit down."

"Oh? You don't?"

"Not until you tell me." Rosie stuck her chin out stubbornly.

"Sit."

"No."

Dankin suddenly spun to face her, his hands flying to her shoulders. "SIT. DOWN."

Rosie's legs almost collapsed and she fell backwards into her chair, eyes wide with fright.

"That's better."

"Dankin… Why won't you tell me?"

"You really don't need to know."

"Why?"

"You'll die if I tell you."

"Die? No I won't."

"Yes you will."

"I say I won't."

"I say you won't have an option. I'm not going to tell you."

"And I'm not giving up until you do."

"Then it appears we are at an impasse."

"I guess so." _What the heck is an 'impasse'?_ she asked herself in confusion.

----

_"Anadell?__ What in the name of the Jedi are you doing here?" Justin's voice was blurry and muted. __Carson__ squinted; she could just make out his tall frame. In his hands he held a small blonde girl – her. _

"Runnin' away." The other _Carson__ gasped, her face turning a pale crimson. She watched with growing anxiety as the blonde struggled, then planted her steel-tipped boot squarely between her brother's legs. His cry of pain and outrage was muffled as he let his sister fall to the floor. The scene slowed. Justin's form slowly curled into itself and Carson was pulled to the floor by gravity, her head whiplashing back. A vein in Justin's forehead popped out as his face turned the color of blood. An incandescent beam of red several shades lighter then his face arced toward the base of his skull. _

Contact.

The skin bubbled up like hot water, turning pitch black. It peeled away from his spine, blood and scorched flesh covering what was once a pristine suit. His entire neck turned the color of charred blood as the destructive laser cut a hole in his skull… He was dead before he hit the floor……

"JUSTIN!!" Carson seamed. Her face drawn and pinched, her body drenched in sweat. "Justin…" She whimpered, hugging her large pillow desperately. "Oh Justin…"

She cried.

----

Grey eyes solemnly regarded the two fighters. Ja'en?it wasn't so much as the word that she sent to the former Solo, it was more of a picture as well as the impression and feelings behind the image that gave it meaning. In this case she sent out an image of his face.

Yes?Jacen sent feelings of agreement.

I hope Dad wins,she told him softly, using an image of Isolder and his trainer fighting, and then one where Isolder is standing proudly while his trainer is laying on the ground.

He's not my dad,Jacen informed her shortly. Tenel Ka turned her small head to look at him.

He's… not?

No, my dad was killed.Jacen started crying.

Tha is not my twin?Tenel Ka asked worriedly.

My twin lives on the big city.The image of Coruscant made Tenel Ka's eyes bulge slightly.

…Oh.

Both of them fell silent as they watched Isolder, neither one feeling particularly communicative.

----

"We should probably put mind blocks on them both," mused the Queen Mother. "They don't understand it, they're too young, but I don't want them getting memories of this and then asking questions about it."

"Point taken, My Queen." Yaryne Te'eth, the Chief of Security, acknowledged. Her mind carefully compiled the masses of rampant ideas that Teneniel's words had set loose. "Shall I get one of the specialists from Hapes 3?"

"Yes…"

"Is something the matter, Your Majesty?"

"Something will happen to Javen. I know not what and I fear I will not be able to protect the son of my heart. I realize that this probably was one of the tactically worst moves I could have made – I have placed the only hope for the galaxy with my idealistic daughter. I fear that this will only end in ruin…"

Yaryne and Teneniel sat quietly, frustrated agony written all over their faces as they were helpless to do anything.

----

Djai kicked weakly at the thick, misty whiteness that was keeping him imprisoned. Time was of no consequence inside the small room. He might have been there for a year, or perhaps for only a minute. It was all the same. The barrier was malevolence, even to his jaded eyes.

Jade.

Jade eyes.

Zekk.

Mara.

Jade.

Zekk needed him.

Zekk was scared.

Mara didn't need him.

Mara wasn't scared.

_Jad__… _

No.

Don't think about her.

Just… Don't.

She's nothing like what she used to be.

She doesn't love you anymore.

She can't.

She won't.

He had torn out her heart and given her a whetstone in its place.

She doesn't love you.

She can't.

She won't.

But, what if she cares?

She can't care.

Hypothetically speaking, if she cared-

She loves **Him**.

She… does?

You nitwit! She kissed him!!

So?

It's one of her most precious memories.

How'd you know that?

I saw it.

How?

Our bond.

…It's still open?

Master never found out about it.

Oh.

----

Zekk and Mara were sitting on the roof of the Imperial Palace. The cool night air was empty. There were dense, dark gray clouds that obstructed their side of the planet. The moon would occasionally peek out and the entire area lit up with a dazzling white brilliance. There was one star that was willing to play peek-a-boo with them; Cirius. Freezing gusts of wind swept over them. Mara was simply oblivious to them and Zekk was shivering. Mara smiled gently at him. "You cold?"

"Ye-e-ea-eah…" Zekk tried to keep his teeth from chattering, his face turning the shade of a pomegranate.

Mara laughed softly as she slipped off her coat, wrapped it around the small five-year-old and pulled him onto her lap. They just looked at the ever-shifting clouds for a time, then Mara remarked, "It all seems so surreal…"

Zekk, who was half asleep, curled into Mara's lap a little more, his Master comforting him as best she knew how. Which wasn't much. Mara hadn't shot him as he had thought she might. She had, however. gone berserk when she saw the onyx that held Djai.

_……Zekk cowered against a wall, his face hiding as sobs racked his thin frame. "For the Empire…" Mara intoned lifelessly as Palpatine rose in her, trying desperately to counteract what Luke had done. _

"You-" Suddenly she broke off, seeing a faint light streaming from Zekk's hands. "That…" she pointed at it with one hand.

Zekk's reaction was to try and hide it from her – last time he'd ever try that. Her fingers were stiff as they slammed into his shoulder, numbing almost the entire left side of his body. She was half-frantic, half-hysterical as she pulled at the stone. The gray mistiness that had shielded Djai from Zekk broke away and Mara screamed….

She brought him back, Zekk realized, but why? And how?...

Jaina.... He had to reach Jaina.... He drifted off to sleep.

---------

Hah! And the plot thickens... faceevil Actually, there's still no plot to this. I mean, I have a plot, but, no plot for how to get to the plot. So this chapter and the next three (I have like 12 more chapters written already) have no plot purpose. Enjoy them! They have probably the last bits of glee and happiness in the whole fic...


	20. 19: Mirax

**Chapter Nineteen**

Mirax swore mentally, blaming herself entirely for the whole mess. She could no longer feel her legs or hands, all of the nerves being overtaxed by the coursing electricity that had raked her sensory organs raw and then some. The fire had consumed her, then the freezing touch of bacta had slid over her, soothing and cooling the same nerves. Her body reacted to everything like it would cause more pain but it didn't. The mental pain though was terrible.

Her Father's features faded and blurred as she looked intently at him. His lips were curving into a word; his face contorted with… Rage? Loss? Fear? Possibly all of the above she realized. Mirax squinted, then smiled a little, he was screaming the word 'no!'. How odd... Why–

----

"Noooooo!" Booster's heart thundered as he screamed himself hoarse. His eyes filled with tears and his world was stained red as he watched the hot crimson blood fall down the small lax form. The small lax form of his daughter. His daughter. Mirax.

No, no, no, bloody hell no! Mirax! No! His mind rebelled at what his eyes told him he was seeing. Damn malfunctioning bionical eyes! Mirax!

Booster watched in terrified horror as a sudden billowing fire swept the Abyssian and his daughter back against the wall and then the devouring golden flames exploded, their brilliance multiplying a hundred fold and the heat sent the others flying back.

----

Jo saw stars – and not just from the inferno. No, she had the misfortune to end up with her head trying to wrap around the barrel of Shada's blaster.

_Ow_

Yeah, that was pretty much her one coherent thought. A hand pulled her up along with the whispered instruction, "Stay put" and then she was left alone.

_Oh look, there's Ronto… and over there, there's Quiggly! Isn't that the Dieing Gungan?... Oh… There's the Windu constellation…_

And thus her thoughts passed as she continued gazing at the stars that shone with singular brilliance on the back of her eyelids.

----

Eire trembled as she clutched the large flamethrower with both hands. _I… Killed them._

_No, the girl was already dead._ her mind injected.

_I killed him._

_I_ killed_ him._

Oh Force I killed him!

I killed him, I killed him, I killed him.

Dead. I can't bring him back.

That's a good thing, some part of her called from the recesses of her mind. 

Eire dropped the weapon, flinching as it landed with an audible _cra__-ash_ by her feet.

_I killed him._

I'm a murder.

I killed.

Killed.

Kill…

The small girl's dark grey eyes filled with tears as she broke down sobbing hysterically.

----

Shada shuddered as she riffled the ashes with the toe of her metal capped thigh boot. _Death is highly overrated._ "Emperor's bones," she muttered, "Why did it have to be the little one?" Sighing, the Mistryl shook the ashes off her feet and turned and walked over to the small huddled form she had come for.

----

Jer tried to block his mother out but quickly discovered it was no use. She would have her say and she _would_ be heard. By the whole planet if her tone was any indication.

"Mummy?" A soft delicate voice called from the door way, mother and son swiveled their heads instinctively. A very short girl with soot colored hair pulled up with a long, slender silver clip and eyes that were a very mysterious shade of green stood in the open doorway. Her pale roseate lips curled up in a hesitant smile as she shifted from one foot to the other. Her unadorned outfit was a deceptively simple affair with a mixture of dark green and palest of emeralds. On her left hand a small band of sliver glittered in the gentle lighting. "Mummy, look at what I found at the market." Squeezing her left hand into a tiny fist, a pale, glowing halo appeared over her head with a giggle. "It's a holographic image," she recited carefully. "I can activate it by makin' a fist!"

Jer closed his eyes. _Taz__… Halo… Angel… NOT!_

"Why Tazmania," exclaimed their mother, "How darling! It looks perfect on you." 

"Yaay!" Tazmania cried as she ran forward and wrapped her petite arms around her mother.

_Dear God this is not happening…_

"Jer? Why're you lookin' like you've eated a lemon?"

_Just keep your eyes closed and when you open them, it'll all be over…_ Jer peeked out one eye, then snapped it shut. _Nope, no such luck._

"Jer, I'll ask you this one last time. Where is your sister?!" his mother suddenly seemed to remember her mission.

"I don't know!"

"Do you know who she's with!?"

"Sorta," Jer groused, and then turned his back on his mother, determined to give her no more information that would further pain his sister. He could feel the anger radiating off of his mom as she left the room. Jer winced quietly. Hell would probably be kinder…

----

Zekk curled underneath the blanket Mara had given him, the cold air numbing his face. He blinked sleepily, tracking Mara as she paced back and forth at the rail, edging the top of the Imperial Palace. The young boy was almost asleep when–

_Zekk?_

Djai called to him. Zekk fairly bounced out of his blanket, then hurriedly curled back up, trying to keep the icy wind out.

_Djai!!_

How've you been? M-Jade hasn't hurt you, has she?

Lady Jade? Not really…

What did she do??

Zekk was silent, Djai became anxious. _ZEKK!! WHAT DID SHE DO??_

Do you know her, Djai? Zekk asked quietly.

_Wha- of course I-not… Wh-whatever gave you that idea?_

She asked if I could trust you, then said that you were trustworth without waiting for me to answer. Zekk was perfectly serious

_Oh._ Djai was strangely subdued.

_Well?_

Nothing.

Uh-huh… sure.

Now see here young man, I do not have to tell you every last detail of my life!

So you do know Lady Jade?

Djai sighed, _No Zekk, I knew her. Once a long time ago, before…_

Before what?

You wouldn't believe me if I told you.

Zekk could feel Djai retreating and cursed himself silently, now he was more confused then ever.

----

Hurray this is fun! How did Djai know Mara? Do I have a plan for this? Oh yes I do… cackles Ohhhh yes I do…


	21. 20: I am the greatest of fools”

**Chapter Twenty**

_Enivid__; fabled place of holiness… not! _Dankin snorted, his temper frayed from keeping the truth from Rosie. _Emperor's black bones, how did I get myself into this mess? Because I "needed the money". _He snorted again. _Last time I'll ever use that excuse. Probably the last time you'll use **any **excuse,_ a cynical voice in his head informed him coldly. The molted screen of hyperspace stretched on ahead of him – blank, freezing, unforgiving, dead. Just like his future.

_It's not like anyone'll miss her! She's only seven and a pirate's daughter at that! I'm doing the galaxy a favor, really. It's not like she'll change her mind and just become an upstanding citizen of the __New__Republic__ – not that I am either but…_ He dragged his hands down his craggy face. _How do I rationalize it? I need to do it – it's the right thing to do – nobody'll be looking for her – nobody'll be missing her! My conscience has no right to bother me. It doesn't. Really. Besides, even if she did want to become an upstanding citizen of the __New__Republic__… The __New__Republic__'s been disbanded. So it doesn't matter one way or another. _Dankin sat back with a Cheshire cat grin, then, after a time, it faded into expressionlessness. There still was something wrong with the whole deal.

---------------------

Rosie sat on her bunk cross-legged, small circular discs laying haphazardly around her as she hummed songs in no particular order. "A-hah!" she cried out as she held up one of the small metal albums up triumphantly. "I've got you!" Rosie swung both feet over the side, being careful to avoid those scattered on the floor, and tiptoed her way across to the compact-player. Sliding it into the narrow slot, a series of lights appeared on a small panel and she pumped her arm in the air. "Yes!" She turned a couple dials, then altered the bass and volume of the music as it began to play. Dropping to her knees, Rosie began to shove the music files across the floor, under the bunk, in the corner and just about any other place that they would fit. Her nose wrinkled as the music continued slow and rather sappy. "C'mon… get to the good part already…"

A crash at the door sent her scrambling back, heart pounding, eyes wide, and muscles tense as she waited breathlessly for something to come hurtling through the closed portal. _Oh boy… Okay, time to calm down… CALM DOWN dammit!!.... I'll be okay… I think… _the door opened and a blonde head poked in.

"Justin?"

Rosie's lower lip curled out into a slight quivering pout and her eyes filled with tears as she watched a half-asleep Carson blink in the light, tears running down her face, hunting for her oldest brother.

-------------------------------

Callis lay curled up on a large, high-backed chair half-asleep in front of a roaring fire. Qol paced up and down the length of the hearth as doctors labored away at the small form of Cait'ar C'baoth. They couldn't understand it – never mind explaining it. Cait's body was reacting to the bacta; only, the bacta was actually eating away at her skin. A large portion of the skin on her back now resembled a second degree chemical burn where it had been only bruises before. When Qol had seen it he had almost ripped the doctor's head off. His brilliant leaf-colored eyes were fairly throwing off sparks as his hands clenched and unclenched spasmodically with rage. Callis almost felt sorry for the doctors until she saw the full extent of the damage. Then her Noghri had had to restrain her from reaching for her blaster and literally blasting them into tiny little bits.

Now, almost seven standard hours later, they were still working on her. Both brother and sister felt that if something didn't happen soon, they'd go insane. The fire crackled away inanely, the large clock set to one side ticked on callously, the soft murmuring voices prattled on unendingly. It was driving them mad.

"What's taking them so long?" Qol finally groaned, running his slim hands through his medium-length jet-colored hair. Callis shrugged one slim shoulder.

"Dunno…"

"She could be dead and they wouldn't notice!"

"Uh-huh…"

"Dying, Callis!! Dying!!"

Callis yawned and nodded her head.

Qol stared at the door like it held the answer for the mystery known as woman. Apparently it did for he fairly leapt into the air with an exultant shout. "Yes!"

Callis bolted upright and banged her knee on the chair arm. "Ow!" She rubbed it with one hand as she looked at her brother suspiciously. "Qol?... What is it?..."

Qol fairly danced over to her side, then swooped her up into his arms and waltzed her around and around the room. "I know what to do… I know what to do… I know what to do…"

"What?" She gasped, trying to un-cross her eyes and to keep her breakfast down. 

"Kill off the doctors and take her to Coruscant." He said smugly.

_Oh boy..._

-----------------

Mara tilted her head back as the driving wind whipped her hair back and pressed her clothes to her lithe form. Her mind was strong, but the barriers were frail and ineffectual. She felt as if she had lost most of the control over her life and didn't know how to regain it. Something had wiped almost a year and a half of her memories away. She couldn't count how many she wished she didn't have but something told her that they were precious memories and mourned for their loss with a passion that sent her into a strange depression. It had something to do with someone from her past… But only the Emperor and Vader had seen her then – and none of her victims were allowed to get that close, even when she had been playing a role. And it was infinitely more dear to her then the Emperor…

-----------------

Azune smeared bacta gel over another bruise on his arm, muttering darkly. "I can't believe I let her do that… But I couldn't help it! I couldn't move! She must've cheated… Done something so I couldn't fight back… That's the only solution… Well, I'll show her… I'll get her back for that… Just she wait…"

-------------

Garik walked out of the room cautiously, then held up the tiny comlink to his face. "Ziaen, am I clear?"

"All's green, sir, next flight over."

"Right!"

Garik dashed across the hall, then ducked into a room, his heart pounding wildly as he prayed he had escaped detection.

"Give me about forty-five seconds to get the loop set up, sir," his security agent instructed him from the other end of the comm.

"You're a good man, Neviyn."

"Not that good, sir. Dreamer could do this job seven times better at least. He's quite the techno geek." Garik's face strained when it tried to smile as he envisioned a tall, pale, seventeen-year-old boy with constantly mussed hair who lived with his computers and naught much else. "Ready, sir."

"Tell me more about your children," Garik ordered as he spun out of the room and sprinted for the far end.

"As you wish, sir. Eighty-three seconds left sir; my son is thirteen and the elder of my two children. I have a sneaking suspicion that his younger sister is involved with several illegal operations so I have asked him to watch out for her. I have the firmest confidence in him. Seventy seconds left."

"What do the girls say?" Garik gasped as his shoulder slammed into a door frame, but still he kept running.

"'He is a fine looking young lad', actually. He's almost one hundred and seventy-nine centimeters tall already, and our girl keeps muttering about a hair cut and one girl called it 'horribly sexy' but I'm afraid that all it really does is make him look like he's just rolled out of bed and forgot to brush his hair."

Garik grinned wolfishly, laughing silently at his Chief of Personal Safety and Sanity. "Remind me to get you a copy of the book 'She Won't Wear A Mood Ring: A Comprehensive Guide to the Female Mind'. My public relations agent gave me a copy of one and it has saved my neck more often then I really even care to remember."

"Thank you for the consideration, sir. Thirty-eight seconds more, sir."

Garik reached the open window and looked down, immediately feeling sick. _Oh Force…_ swallowing the large lump in his throat, the actor tried not to remember how many hundreds of meters it was to the ground far, far below… Carefully attaching the grappling hooks firmly to the wall, he clambered out the casement, cautiously making his way to the ground. The thought of the transparisteel walkways that were liberally scattered over the planet almost sent him back up the building side and to horizontal standing, rather then vertical. Then he remembered why he was running in the first place and he scrambled twice as fast. _Please help me escape those fan girls……_

"Sir, I think you have some red lipstick on your shoes and on your cheek."

-----------------

Laedala left chaos in her wake as she continued her frenzied pace to get to her daughter. At the center of the destruction was Kyp Durron, whom she had left to the uncaring hands of the med droids. Two of them rushed after her, almost three tried to deactivate, one exploded, and several tried to take him out of the bacta tank. None of them did anything correctly, though.

After almost ten minutes of this, an absolutely petrified boy broke the bacta tank with his hands, his body shaking as he fairly leapt to the ceiling to escape the terrors they were inflicting on him. Electricity flowing through the bacta… oxygen supply turned off… oxygen supply tripled… tank pressure raised… tank pressure lowered… He shuddered in memory.

"Master Durron – Master Durron – Master Durron – Master Durron – " they called out, trying to locate him.

_I'll be damned if I let them catch me,_ he thought darkly, climbing spider-like across the top of the room.

-------------

Jaina whimpered mindlessly, the aftermath of the pain tainting her awareness. _Lost… so lost… Jacen, want Jacen. _Her month-old mind refused any rational argument or thought. Her mother didn't _feel_ right, the green eyed boy was asleep, the lady with pheonix hair and jaded eyes was in pain, and her father was **gone**. Jacen. Her twin. He was there. He was here. He just… wasn't.

The _thing _that used to be Leia approached, Jaina's eyes fluttered in panic, her chocolate eyes flaming with pain and fear, illuminated by tears. _No…_

---------------

The door closed behind Choen and Jer narrowed his eyes and pointed his finger at his youngest sister. "You'd better not try anything, Taz. It took me forever to repair my computer after you hacked up the wires. I mean it this time."

"Aw Jer…" Tazmania fluttered her eyelashes outrageously, holding the scissors behind her back and clicking on her holographic halo. "Don't yuh trust me?"

"Only about as far as I can throw you."

The short girl began adding up numbers on her fingers. "You usually throw me from your bed, out of the room into the hall almost to the…" she continued muttering as she walked over to the door and looked out, sized up the floor, down at his bunk, then back and forth a few times and then… "you usually throw me about a meter and a half. But what does that have to do with anathin'?"

"It's a figure of speech, Taz, and it means 'absolutely not'."

"Oh. So that's a no on the re-decorating, huh?"

------------

Eire jerked away from the gentle hands that touched her shoulders, not caring if she was beaten for it. She was unclean. A murder. Dirty. Killer. A keening cry escaped her lips and the tears came twice as fast.

"Squerrum… Squerr–"

"My name not – Squerrum!..." Eire choked out around her sobs, trying desperately to breath through her tears.

"Then what is it…" continued the soft, gentle voice.

"Eire – Eire Karrde."

"Air?"

"Nooo!" she wailed, "Eire!!"

Shada was practically wringing her hands as she tried to make the small girl stop crying. "E-ire… Please, won't you stop crying?"

_So she is a Karrde. Huh. Well, I never would've guessed… well, wait – then who was her mother?... that Jade person didn't join his team until a few years back, maybe like two, and Karrde is _**never **_seen with women on his arm… Oh bloody hell… Now I'm giving myself a headache…_

"C – c – ca – n – an't…" Eire whimpered, curling into the fetal position and rocking back and forth miserably.

---------

Booster staggered to his feet as he looked about wildly. _Mirax__! Wait,_ his mind told him, _She's__ dead… _"Nooo!" he screamed.

A Zenji needle speared the ground only centimeters away from his foot and he glared at the bodyguard sitting next to the small humanoid female that his daughter had died to save. "What?" He called harshly. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No. But I do want an explanation for why that woman, I believe she was your daughter, was here."

"Yes, she was my daughter, her name was Mirax. She saw them beating on a small lump of something, then, realizing that it was human, got the foolish idea that she could save that tiny squirt and ended up getting killed for her efforts."

"So are you going to ignore her wishes?"

"What?"

"Well, if she died trying to save Eire, shouldn't you try to help her?"

"That girl is the reason that my daughter is dead!"

"So you're going to let her death be in vain?"

"How dare you." Booster shook his finger in Shada's face.

Shada faltered, then the look in his blazing eyes forced her to continue. "I dare because I think she needs help."

"I say _you_ need help."

"I'll ignore that for the moment."

"Oh, how _gracious_ of you."

Shada blew a strand of black hair out of her face and then glared at him, then a sly look crossed her face. "I'll give you chocolate…" 

-----------

A richly garbed woman stalked down the long, ornamental hall early that morning, her cape flowing away from her like a storm of grey clouds. Her face was hard and her knuckles were white as she clenched them tightly to keep from strangling herself. Everyone took one look at her flashing eyes and twisted lips and swiftly became aware of their mortality and prudently stepped aside. One was unfortunate enough to catch the brunt of her ire as she turned a corner.

"You there!"

"Me, Majesty?"

"Yes, you! What gave you the right to dress in black?"

"Tis just a color…"

"No more of it! I want everything black to be strictly forbidden in this Empire – now!"

"But – but, your grace, the Queen Mother wears black almost exclu–" 

"No! None of that! None of that! I don't care I want black eliminated! Now! Now, now, now, now!!"

"Nee!"

"Aie!!"

"Nee! Nee! Nee! Nee! N–"

"Do not say that!"

"–ee! Nee! Nee! Nee! Nee! Nee! Nee!" 

"Aiee!!"

"Nee! Nee! Nee! Nee! Nee! Nee! Nee! Nee! Nee! Nee! Nee! Nee! Nee! Nee! Nee!"

"Nooo!"

"Fearest thou the word… Nee!?"

"Yes, yes! I fear it!"

"Then you shall not forbid… BLACK!"

"Yes! Yes!"

"Now go or I shall say… Nee! Nee! Nee!"

Without a word, Ta'a Chume, former ruler of the Hapen Monarchy turned and fled. The tall man couldn't contain his laughter any more and it spilled out over the halls. Well, at least they knew that their experimental drug sure worked… Black Fighter's lips curled up with a hint of resemblance to a smile. The experimental drug – à l'aveuglette irraisonné gérondif – worked… It worked. Her smile turned into one of evil as she thought of the possibilities.

----

Teneniel awoke from a Vision, covered in sweat, her heart beating hard enough for it to be seen. She swung her legs out of bed and stood up gingerly, reaching for a robe that was carelessly strewn onto a large chair beside her bed. Pulling it on over her shoulders, she walked slowly out of her room, through the shimmering sheer curtains that separated her bedchambers from her balcony and into the morning sunshine. Looking out over a forest, she could see the world waking up around her, and she was calm – on the outside. On the inside she was berating herself fiercely for having kept Javen. _You fool!_ she accused herself. _You could have thought to at least try and see what the Force's Will was before you took him in! Now we're all doomed!_

"I am the greatest of fools," Teneniel whispered. "For I have surely brought about my people's destruction. Oh… How could I have been so blind? If only there was some way to undo what I have wrought." Her voice faded away and the air, filled with the cries of songbirds, suddenly seemed lonely.

---

Okay, so, this one made me cringe a little. I _think_ it was because I was watching **Monty Python** too much…


	22. 21: Heather On Her Arm

**Chapter Twenty-One**

The hot mid-day sun was blazing as it streamed through the warped glass windows. A passing workman glanced in and caught a glimpse of black and red. He shook his head as he continued on down the street, heading for his work site, pitying the poor sod who was trapped in there.

The tall man hunched over the large desk sorting through the masses of datapads was oblivious to both the heat and the workman's pity. His thick brown hair was graying at the edges and divided into six parts, evidence of his hands running through it many times. He sighed and looked up, one large hand cupping his clean-shaven chin thoughtfully. His blue eyes were unfocused as he tried to understand what the Mon Calamarians had been thinking. "They weren't thinking," he muttered at last, then looked back at the datapad's glowing screen. His tanned face was unnaturally wrinkled as he read the report. He and his wife had been attempting to discuss this the night before but she was too worried about their eldest daughter to sufficiently concentrate. He loved his wife dearly but he also realized that she was a mother hen and was probably making Jo's sudden disappearances out to be a lot worse then it really was. She always came home within several hours.

With a sigh, he stood up and stretched, his joints snapping and cracking as he moved them for the first time in hours. Brushing imagined lint off of his clothes, he walked over to the wall and twisted his crimson robe around a tad unconsciously as he pulled out a datapad from the bookshelf. His garments were reminiscent of the Alderaanian style favored by his cousin, Mon Mothma. He smiled gently as he recalled their last holo conversation - she looked like hell. His smile disappeared as he remembered that it had been the last conversation he'd ever have with her.

The Senator Organa-Solo had killed her. Iedor Joran turned and hurled the datapad against the far wall, feeling no relief when it sparked, smoked, and bent nearly in half.

-----------------

Jo groaned as freezing coldness invaded her warm cocoon of darkness and stars. Chilling water slid down her face and gathered in the high neck of her jump suit. Some ran in little trails into her hair, and one particularly icy stream raced down her spine. She groaned again. "I'm up… Up…"

A sudden wave of iciness smashed over her face and torso. "Aaaaai!" Her honey-brown eyes flashed open with frightening awareness, her damp brown curls clinging to her skull, her salmon-colored lips parted in shock and her jumpsuit almost black with water.

"Okay, she's awake now," a grumpy voice said from somewhere above her head.

"I think we might have used to much water," an amused one commented.

"I hope that brat appreciates everything we're doing for her," the first one groused.

A _smack_, echoed by a yelp of pain rang out. "Why won't you simply behave?"

"Because that'd be no fun."

"Men."

"Girls."

"How juvenile."

"Stop - talking." Jo demanded, one hand cradling the side of her face as she closed her eyes in pain.

A gasp of mock-shock rang out. "Emperor's black bones, she lives!"

"Of course she lives, you dolt. Now help me get her inside."

"As you wish, O Queen of the Galaxy."

"And shut up!"

"Whatever you say, Most Brave Warrior-Maiden."

"I mean it Booster!"

"Hey, listen. You're the one who gave me the Most Holy Chocolate!"

"Only the Force knows how much I regret that now!"

"Are you saying that you don't appreciate me??"

"Only when you're on Chocolate!"

"So now is not the time to tell you that the only profitable thing I've done today is buy a chocolate factory?"

"You didn't…"

"I did!! It can make three square miles of chocolate, a foot deep per day! It's net worth was almost seventy thousand credits but I managed to get it at the bargain price of four thousand."

A stunned silence fell for a few moments.

"You're kidding. What'd you do, drug him within an inch of his life? Threaten to kill his family? Kill him outright?"

"As if I'd do _anything_ so ostentatious." Booster fairly sniffed. "Hardly. I spoke in Ghi, but I think he thought I was speaking Squib." He shrugged. "It's not my fault if he didn't know the smuggler language. I think I need a refresher course on Ghi though; I made four grammatical errors in under half a minute."

-----------------

Tanyr raked his hands through his hair angrily. "You're kidding me."

"Why would I do that, sir?" Zylar asked.

He sighed. "Never mind. Are you sure that's what she meant?"

"Positive, sir."

"And about the Katana fleet?"

"I believe she requested that we make it 'unavailable for other traffickers at any cost'."

"Right." He stood to his feet and tugged at the bottom of his shirt to straighten the wrinkles out. "Get me the first officer."

"Right away, sir." Zylar slipped out of his quarters quietly and Tanyr let his head fall to his chest.

"Why didn't I just tell her now?" he sighed softly. _I need to tell her…_

-----------

Zylar slipped around the corner and shook her head, her (topknot) swaying gently from side to side. "He didn't tell me." 

"See? I warned you, Falleen. I warned you."

"I heard you!" Zylar's eyes flashed dangerously and the man took a step back, hands raised.

"Whoa, calm down dame."

A knife flashed dully in the light and his face turned pasty as a single drop of cold, red blood rolled down his neck from a tiny puncture made by the tip. "Treat me with respect, or I swear you won't live to regret it." Zylar's voice was hard as steel and soft as silk.

----------

Even as the molted stars of hyperspace faded away, Khabarakh's keen eyes pierced the darkened pane of empty space surrounding the dark, verdant planet of Endor. He growled softly when he didn't spot them at first. He quickly started up the scanners on his fast-attack ship and let loose a full blown wail when he came up empty on the search that looked exclusively for the _Millennium Falcon_.

_The Lady Vader is not here… She is gone… She has deceived me…_ The grey spear-head shape of an Imperial Star Destroyer slid around the edge of the planet and the Noghri's eyes grew wide with distress. "She has betrayed me."

With a high pitched whine, he pulled his ship around and tried to escape the certain death that awaited him there.

-----------

Laedala slid her hand up the glass wall that kept her from her daughter, her red eyes glowing stronger then ever as her thoughts whirled in her mind. Her breath caught as Jaina opened her eyes. The dark chocolate color was poignant and filled with pain and fear. Pain and fear that lanced straight to the core of her confused heart. "Jaina Solo…" she whispered silkily, her eyes narrowing as she fought to regain her mind. Evil, red, and darkness battled for supremacy inside and she fought back with everything she had. Laedala struggled with Leia. Evil and Goodness; Red and White; Darkness and Light. Only one could win.

Laedala forced Leia back.

Evil corrupted goodness.

Red bled into white.

Darkness flooded the light.

One tiny flame survived.

------------

Kyp crawled out of the room and continued scuttling along the ceiling. "Damn droids… be the death of me…"

-----------

R2-D2 rolled into the Palace. Jade had abandoned him along with Master Luke's X-wing. He rather hoped Master Luke wouldn't be too deeply upset that he had sliced into the New Republic's database and arranged for his ship to be serviced. Artoo knew that Master Luke had forbidden it. He tootled sadly as he lifted his scanner and began to search systematically for Mistress Leia. She would want to know what had happened to her brother. Maybe after his meeting with her, he could look up C-3PO. Threepio would be able to tell him what was wrong with the humans, and why Master Luke couldn't have simply been jump-started.

Artoo bleeped mournfully. They had left Master Luke laying on the ground. Mara Jade had said he was "dead", but Threepio had been torn to pieces once before, and Chewbacca had put him back together. If his memory card was correct, according to Master Han, Chewbacca hadn't wanted to and had claimed that he "liked Golden-Rod the way he was" but Mistress Leia had insisted. Artoo really hoped that Threepio would be able to help…

------------

The Black Fighter's face was drawn and tight, her odd eyes worried. "And you're certain of this."

"More certain then anything, my Lady."

"Blast. This will increase the difficulty of it all. Blast."

"Is--is there anything you'd like me to do?"

Black Fighter raised her head, her pupils dwarfing her irises and making her eyes look almost as black as she felt. The dull light of the dataport screen on her left gleamed off of her golden hair that fell in masses down her back. Her long-fingered hands were pale with gently curved nails, cropped short due to the massive amounts of time she spent at her computer. Her nose was sprinkled with a smattering of freckles that stood out against her pale skin, and spread into her cheeks but melted into the gentle rosy color that was stretched across her high cheek-bones. Her light red lips curved into a smile, her white teeth flashing as she ducked her head again. "I thank you, Red Flare, but I'm afraid that it is something the Numbers must deal with on their own."

The shifter's eyes flew wide open, then he choked out in a strangled tone, "You're planning on bringing this up with the Numbers?"

Black Fighter gave a mirthless laugh older than her years. "What is there that they do not already know? Yes my friend, I plan on bringing a plan to counter Leia Organa Solo before the Numbers. The next gathering is in two months(') time. I only hope I can come up with something worth of consideration by that time."

-----

Eire lay curled up, completely asleep beside the groaning form of Alianè. Both girls were on top of a large platform while Shada kept watch over them. The hyper-active Booster had been sent off to find Alianè's parents - whoever they were. Shada was half-asleep and not fighting her drowsiness. Eire cried out wildly, her hands bracing the back of her head as though she expected an ax to fall. Shada jerked, startled back to full awareness. Cursing herself, she reached for a small, clear cylinder about three quarters filled with the dark red stim pills and pulled the stopper out, pouring two into her open palm. Capping it again, she put it back into its small slot on her utility belt and pulled the circular, flat jug containing concentrated stim tea. Tossing the pills into her mouth, she swiftly unscrewed the top of her tea and swallowed the pills and a mouthful of the bitter liquid. "Ahhh…" Her green eyes had cleared amazingly and she felt as fresh as ever. Some small part of her wondered why she hadn't done so before, and then it recalled that she hadn't thought of it earlier and her conscience was appeased. Shada rubbed one hand against Eire's boney back rhythmically, hoping that somehow the tiny girl would be alright. One thing was for sure, she needed to wash - rather badly.

Her hair was a medium brown, but it was the type of brown that came from long periods of mistreatment and not belonging to either DNA or coloring. It was also matted beyond belief and hung to almost her waist. Her skin was fairly translucent and streaked with many unidentifiable substances that Shada didn't really want to know about. Her tiny feet were bare and callused, like she had never worn a pair of shoes. Her scrawny legs were scratched and covered in scabs and old scars. On her left arm, an odd birthmark stood out. It was sepia in color and shaped like a sprig of flowers - _heather_, Shada's mind instructed. _It's heather._ - with curling leaves, tiny bunches of flowers, all attached to a larger stem that was thick and then faded away into her normal skin color. "Eire Karrde, little girl with heather on her arm…" Shada muttered to herself thoughtfully.

-----------------

Booster sauntered down the narrow streets, humming a tuneless melody to himself. "Little girls, little girls, everywhere I look there's little girls." He sighed. "Just my luck…" the strangely depressed man looked at the empty chocolate pouch with "Worship Chocolate" written on one side and "Then Give Me Chocolate - Or Else" on the other. Empty. This was the source of his problems. He had eaten it all and now he was suffering from withdrawal symptoms.

----------

Cait'ar's eyes opened wide, and then the large machine to her left monitoring her heart gave yet another quiet, rather long bleep. One of the many doctors' turned to look at her and then froze in horror. The narrow zigzagging vertical lines had gone horizontal. Her heart had not beat in over a minute and a half.

----------------

Dankin carefully filled the darts with the tranquilizer he had been given, then slid the darts into the empty clip. The 44-91LLR was a prototype blaster, and he'd never dealt with one before. It seemed fairly straightforward. Darts go into the clip, clip slides into the butt of the blaster, pull back a lever mounted on the top of the barrel, aim the blaster, pull the trigger, end. He only hoped that it would prove to be as straightforward as the manual had said. He swallowed with some difficulty; practically every other word in the manual had been some variation of the word "maybe". Needless to say, it did not inspire great confidence.

He slid the clip into the dark opening and snapped the restraints in place. _Here goes nothing…_

-------

Rosie felt helpless - something the seven-year-old wasn't used to. Oh sure, she had the usual problems of not being tall enough to reach the cookie jar without help and sometimes locked herself into places she really wasn't authorized to be in(move comma to here) but it hadn't felt like this. It had been about herself then - now it was about her friend. Her first friend at that.

_Oh, __Carson__…_Rosie's lower lip was in a permanent pout and showed no sign of moving as she accidentally accessed the bond.

A hesitant sniff came over the bond and Rosie jerked, having forgotten about it. _R-r-rosie?_

_Hey lil' one./_/ 

_I, I got Ju-J-ustin k-k-k-killed…_Carson wailed again, banging her head against the wall on accident.

Rosie closed her eyes, Carson was hysterical. Hysterical. _How'd you treat hysterical people? Slap 'em? Nah, can…. WATER!!_ Without another word or thought, Rosie darted off to the fresher, thanking her lucky stars that her dad qualified for real water rather then sonic…

It was supposed to be ice cold water, right? Rosie grinned fiendishly. Friendship non-withstanding, this'd be fun.

-----------

Djai cursed himself without mercy as he realized he'd screwed up. He hadn't sent Zekk the Vision that the kid needed. He had sent him a nightmare that he wouldn't remember. A nightmare that would stay with him forever. But what was that blonde doing in it, and where had that little girl come from?...

---------

_Oh I say, look at this… We've found our way back here!_

My, what a stroke of luck!

I do so hope that he hasn't done anything rash while we were gone.

As do I… Oh, hang on, where are the others?

Dunno, it doesn't look like they've come along! Why the sorry chaps!!

So it's just the three of us?

Aye, and Djai over there.

Oh, him. Mister Obsessive.

Watch your tongue!!

But I haven't got one!!

Figuratively!!

Well, I still don't got one.

Something that we continually thank the good Lord.

Well, here's to you too!

Djai groaned… _Terrific…__ More voices in the rock… As if it weren't small enough as it is… Well, at least there's not twelve like last time… There had better not be any blondes in this batch._

--------

Mara lifted the sleeping form of her apprentice from the cold roof and began to take him inside. Yes, apprentice. She sighed. If nothing else the Force was a powerful motivator, very powerful.

Having someone else depend on her when she didn't really even know if she'd be alive second to second? Tall order. But she was up for it. After all, she had a blaster and it was just one kid. How hard could it be?...

--------------

So now Mara is going to be training Zekk… How… Interesting. faceevil


	23. 22: Attacking of Carson

**Chapter Twenty-Two**

Khabarakh froze in anguish as the tractor beam stole his control over his tiny ship. This was it. A tiny mew of rage rattled in the back of his throat as his ship was pulled in.

Unless he informed them of his new allegiance to the Mal'ary'ush, they would terminate him for abandoning his post without orders. If he informed them that he had changed allegiance from the Grand Admiral Thrawn to the Heir of the Lord Vader, then they would kill him for treason without a second thought.

This was it. He had failed.

-----

Zylar and Tanyr both bent their heads over the plans for a slave-rigged Dreadnaught. They were going to have to blow up all of the ships if they were going to be able to do as the Black Fighter commanded. Zylar sighed. "They're so beautiful. It's such a shame we have to waste them."

"I know," Tanyr said grumpily. "But it's not our call to make. If we double up on the explosives here," he pointed at one side of the power cells on the flimsi-plast spread out flat on the table. "That should knock the explosion into what's left of the power cells and possibly give us an even bigger damage radius. What d'you think?"

"I think I wish I had a couple of seismic charges right about now," Zylar muttered, chewing on the ends of her ponytail. They both fell quiet for a short while, each absorbed in their own thoughts.

-------------

_I object!_

_Oh, _you_ object do you? Well, then try this one. You're a bloody miserable failure and shouldn't be allowed here!_

_I beg your pardon??_

_You botched up the last **THREE** assignments that we've been given!_

_Actually, that was you ol' chap._

_Excuse me??_

It was on that note that Zekk groggily shook his head, trying to wake up. He regretted it. His head hurt worse then anything he'd ever felt! Well, except for when he had jumped down to save Lady Jade… And when he'd stepped on that vibroblade… And when a speeder had hit him going above the limit… But in those ones he knew that it wasn't his fault and that he could blame it on someone else! Usually the other voices in the stone actually.

_You okay kid?_ Djai asked.

_My… Head…_

Djai gave a dry chuckle, _If I didn't know the real reason behind it, I'd say you have one mother of a hangover._

"A… a what? Oh my head…" Zekk whimpered as he rubbed his small hands over his face, brushing his too long bangs out of his bleary emerald eyes. The pressure was everywhere but worst behind his eyes.

The tears were no relief.

"Hey," a husky voice called from his door which managed to open without his knowledge. "Can I come in? I have something for that headache of yours." Mara added alluringly, a hesitant smile banishing the hard look in her eyes.

Djai then did something he almost never did; he took control of Zekk's body and forced it to do as he commanded.

"Meds? Force bless you ma'am, give 'em!" Zekk-controlled-by-Djai fairly scrambled out of bed, his bloodshot eyes slightly wild.

Mara didn't know Zekk well enough to understand that he was being controlled and decided to tease him a bit. A fiendish grin lit up her face with suppressed delight as she held aloft a syringe. She closed her fist about the small vial of the real pain medication – a liquid that tasted suspiciously like grapes, but mostly like medicine - behind her back. Zekk took one look at the long pointy needle and for a second time in less then fifteen hours the palace echoed with the shill scream of a panicked child.

------

Was there ever a moment that you could simply relax and let life pass you by? Not if you wanted to live through the moment, Black Fighter grimaced. It wasn't that she loved bloodshed and intelligence work, well, in a way she did, but, she knew that there were only so many other ways you could survive. She had none of them. Clones rarely do.

-------

The eleven eyed alien was cowering on the floor before a holoprojection, "I swear, it was there, Mightiness." The room was at the supposedly "comfortable" temperature of 39 degrees celcius and his body was trying to cool down. His clothes were drenched and he could feel the rough cloth sticking to his body where it lay flush against his skin and where it wasn't, pools of sweat were forming. _Frell__, you can't even inform something right! But it was right there! She came from the same segment of the wall every night! Routine! Pure vanilla routine!_

"Ah, I understand… The palace has a secret chamber built that which only you can see and can not be found on any plans or by any type of equipment built for that exact reason. It is also in a part of the Palace which people do not usually go and no one else – ever – has even heard of anyone walking around in the dead of night. Much less one matching your description of her that you called, oh what was it… oh yes. 'Blonde hair, rather small build, nymph like, always dresses in silver and blue and is totally unforgettable.' Those were your exact words. Exactly wrong. There is no person by that description in the palace!"

"Per-perhaps she only-only dr-dresses like that a-a-at ni-igh-night?"

"Forget her clothes! There are no small nymph-like blondes! How could you be so imbecilic! I almost tipped my hand." The boss hissed, anger blazing in the two black hollows that held the eyes. "Now I want you to find out who that person is, and this time, capture her. I don't care what you have to do."

The connection was broken and the intelligence agent groaned.

These late nights were killing him…

------------

Taz stormed down the stairs, her temper set off by her older brother. "Who does he think he is? I'll show him! He's so protective of everything… Huh, it'll serve him right!"

------

Choen paced in her bedroom, wanting to go out to search for her "wayward" daughter Aliané and going fairly mad with the inactivity. She had instructed all of the staff to keep a sharp eye out for Aliané but who knew if they would or even _could_ do their jobs? "Oh Force… Where could she be??" A slamming door alerted her to her youngest daughter's distress and she hurried out after her.

--------

Jer looked at his pillows in dismay. Or rather, looked at what had _been_ his pillows. Tazmania hadn't left much of them in one piece. Well, at least the feathers are still slightly whole…

----

"And then he started hitting me with his pillows…" Tazmania wailed, her tears soaking her mother's bodice. "Oh mommy, he was so _mean_! And now my head hurts and… and…." She was sobbing too hard to go on.

Choen stroked her daughter's back. Her temper, being on a short fuse already over Alianè, burst into full flame at the mistaken account of her son's mistreatment of her daughter. "Shh, shh Tazy… Don't worry, Jer was a bad boy and will be punished for this… Shhh…" Taz's shaking shoulders slowly changed from sobs to laughter as she tried to sound dutifully harmed by her older brother.

--------

Jer had raided the linen closet and was attempting to re-stuff the feathers back in. "Ptha!" he spat another one out and groaned as a cloud of them rose up from the case and fell all over the floor. Again. Almost half of them he had decided, were decorating his hair and clothes. "Bawk-bawk," he grumbled, "I don't even _like_ chickens all that much…"

His door slammed open abruptly and he jumped, then wondered abstractly where the huge clashing of the cymbals were, that's what always happens in the holofilms… "Jer? I am ashamed of you!" His mother announced, her eyes blazing down at him. "Attacking Tazmania like that when she tried to ask for help with her homework, I trained you better!"

"Huh?"

"Attacking small girls? Attacking your sister?? And rocks in the pillows! What has gotten into you!"

"Hey, mom, I did no-"

"Stop it! I don't want to hear any more of your lies! You, young man, are grounded!"

Jer was left holding a partially filled pillow with feathers floating through the air as his furious mother slammed the door shut. He blinked rather stupidly and looked at the linen he was holding. "Oh maaan…."

The door opened a little and the vicious, victorious smirking face of his seven year old sister peered in, "Aww, did widow Jewwy get in twobow? Oh poow widow Jewwy…"

"Taz, shut up, get out." He glared at her as best he could, one feather stubbornly attached to one eyebrow and blocking his view partially.

Tazmania gave a mock gasp and clasped both hands to her face in a look in a classic "Home Alone" (that was one of the first movies "Rikkie" had made, back when he was six; Jo loved it) pose. "My goodness! How horrid!"

Jer rolled his eyes and threw his hands up, emptying his pillow completely. "Why me? Why me?"

"Jer, let me give you some advice." Her face turned cold and she leaned in a bit, "Don't mess with me. You'll lose."

"I will?" Jer cocked one eyebrow.

"Correct."

------------

A tall woman in a white outfit pushed open a door with a small golden plaque reading "D. R. Spectra, M.D. Head of Psychiatric, Neurology and Central Nervous System Wards". Della Ray Spectra, Del Ray to her friends, was the leading doctor concerning the intricacies of the human mind in the Hapan Cluster; specializing in neurology, correcting spinal cord injuries and psychosurgery. Her work dealing with mind-blocks, recovering amnesia and other mental problems was considered of the finest quality in the galaxy and was sought after by people she never would have thought of. Keying her computer terminal on, she fairly fell over when she saw she had a message from the Royal House. Sha scanned it quickly and called for her secretary. The young woman bustled into the room and read over her shoulder, her eyes wider then saucers as she went further into the letter.

The room was cloaked in silence then the secretary broke in, "You're going to go, aren't you?"

"Of course! Book me on a flight, _yesterday_!"

"Right away!"

Del Ray was going to the Palace of One Thousand Fountains.

---------

Carson was still trapped in the past, her body reacting to memories that were spinning endlessly in her mind. Ghosts that had died resurrected themselves to torment her, teasing her sanity and threatening to steal it. Blood was everywhere and a blaster in her hand. Even as she killed another one of them, they rose, the blood spilling down their bodies and their skin growing pale, to point an accusing finger at her, raining accusations on her.

Killer.

Murderer.

Slaughterer.

Criminal.

Killer.

A Waste.

Kill Her.

----------

Rosie blessed her lucky stars as she filled a cup with icy water – if her father hadn't been the first officer, she knew that her ship would never have been outfitted with water. Sonic was simply more efficient and less space consuming. And would _so_ have not worked for right now. Racing back to her room, she kept one hand firmly over the top of the glass to keep the precious water in. All of a sudden a rush of fear flew through her system and she stopped dead in her tracks. Shaking her head firmly, she pounded on the door controls impatiently, "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon…" Rosie blinked in surprise as the doors opened. Carson wasn't in there. But… Wasn't… Dankin?? What was he doing in here?

"Hey, Dankin…" Rosie called out cautiously, "what gives?"

Dankin froze and something made Rosie throw her cup at him and dive for the floor and roll right, then somersault forwards landing up by his feet. For no reason she thought, until she saw the large blaster in his hand and the small darts imbedded in the wall, door and the four between Carson's shoulder-blades.

------

Booster rapped on the door, it was large and made entirely from wood with rough black metal hinges. The fact that it was made from wood was in itself enough to make him pause. Wood was used for ancient heirlooms, small boxes, trinkets, and if you were exceptionally rich, you could afford to outfit your house with wooden furniture. Occasionally you would find a world backwards enough to be condemned that still made their houses from wood or perhaps a person who owned a world and had so many security devices and plans in place that they could manage the cost of having a home made from wood. There was one family – Zaien if he remembered correctly – that was one of those. _I should probably look up Nevyin if I get the chance… He was a great friend._ He blinked, and refocused on the door. Neviyn had a house made of wood, these people only had a door. Granted it was a door on the scale of giants, at the top of the arch it was at least four meters and it was about two and a half meters across. Monstrous, all things considered. There was a large cut running though the center of the door, probably a defect of some type, Booster decided with a shrug.

He was wrong. The door_s_ – it was two doors, not one – opened inward slowly, a man dressed impeccably in a red costume that nearly moved Booster to tears it was so hideous. The man also had his hair all curled, Force what a ridiculous looking chap.

"Yes? What may I do for you sir?"

"Is this Jo's house? I think her last name is Joran."

"Jo Joran? I'm sorry sir but I can't help. This _is_ the Joran's residence but there is no one in the family named 'Jo'. I'm terribly sorry sir."

"Wait–"

"Yes, sir?"

"She's about so tall," Booster gestured about the middle of his chest, "curly brown hair, light brown eyes and ten years old. Are you sure she doesn't live here?"

"Miss Alianè!"

"Excuse me?"

"Oh bless the Maker, Mistress! Mistress!" The man turned and ran off, calling for his mistress.

Another guard appeared where the other had been and aimed a blaster at Booster's head and snapped his fingers. Two men came from almost literally nowhere to grab Booster's arms and pull him into the household, each of them also holding a blaster on him.

-----

Tenel Ka felt the faintest stirrings of jealousy. _How come you get to sit up?/_/

_Trust me kid, if I knew…_Javen responded with distaste, eyeing the hovering ladies with wary horror. _They won't go away! I scream and scream and all they do is hover even more! They're like the thing that wouldn't die!/_/

_Want me to do something about it?_

_Like what?_Javen asked suspiciously.

_One word: fired./_/ 

_It sounds like it has promise…_

_It has _more_ then promise – it'll work._

_Okay, do it._

Tenel Ka rolled over once, having spent hours imitating Javen on it and finally gotten it right. Rolling once more, she was at the very edge of the bed, next to the railing that was keeping her from falling down. It didn't even take all that much control to snap the controls – literally – and deactivate the holding mechanism. With a shill laugh that startled the others in the room, Tenel Ka rolled off the bed.

----

AHH!!! TENEL KA!!! wails


	24. 23: Del Ray's Purpose

**Chapter Twenty-Three**

Three days later, Tanyr was no closer to making up his mind about if he should tell Zylar the truth or not. On the one hand, as his partner she had a right to know. On the other, no one was supposed to know. A sharp mental Force prod from the girl whose safety was in question spurred him into action. "Zylar," he instructed, "If anything happens to me, I need you to contact Lyar Te'eth."

"Who's Lyar Te'eth?"

"She's… she's someone you can trust. Trust me."

Zylar nodded slowly, her black topknot swaying gently. "I see. How will I locate her?"

"Easy. She's the only cousin of Isolder that is allowed in the Palace. She's a bit of a shrew but easily the most important person at the palace. Teneniel thinks she runs the place, and so does her mother in law, but it's really Lyar. I'm assuming that Lyar doesn't want everyone else to know that though so she's keeping it hidden or something."

"Ta'a Chume doesn't rule Hapes??"

"Nope."

"But Teneniel is still a figure head?"

"Yup."

"How in the name of the Emperor did she pull **that** off?"

"Dunno, she's a little odd, but still sweet. You just have to avoid the prickles. Caution on dealing with her, if she decides she doesn't like you, you'll end up sitting in vibroblades."

"How'd she do that?"

"How's anyone supposed to know how a blonde does anything?"

"She's a blonde?"

"Look, Zy, trust me. She's the best!"

Zylar looked highly skeptical and Tanyr sighed, "Look, I have a holo of her somewhere around here. You really can trust her."

"So you keep on saying."

"I mean it," Tanyr looked around his room, spun around, then back. "Where the devil did I put that thing??"

"What thing? The holo?"

"Yes!" Tanyr announced, "I remember, the bunk!"

"I'm supposed to trust a blonde… Yeah right. You're nuts, Tanyr. Totally blooming nutters."

Tanyr was digging under his bunk already, his torso hidden by the large black comforter that dropped to the floor. "I heard that!" He wiggled out, "got it too."

Zylar caught the hard metal rectangle with one hand and gingerly pressed the rough metal button that flipped the holoprojection on. The picture was of Isolder, wearing a shirt surprisingly. He had his long hair tied up in a braid and he was laughing. Behind him a small built girl with a mischievous smile, fair hair and twinkling eyes was laughing also as she put small pink and yellow flowers in his hair. _If that's the girl, I'm going to shoot Tanyr…_

"-That's Lyar there." Tanyr said, pointing to her with a fond grin.

"You've got to be kidding me."

"Nope. Ain't she a cutie?"

"She has freckles." She sniffed jealously. _Tanyr thinks she's cute??_ she muttered inwardly, _Well. We'll just see about that…_

"Isolder and I are thinking about hooking her up with someone but we're not sure of who to do it with-"

Zylar tuned him out easily. At least she wasn't beautiful. But did she have to be so… engaging?? She should control herself, not drape herself over guys. It simply isn't done.

"-she thinks all guys are her older brothers and that makes romantic relationships kinda hard-"

And Lyar? What kind of a name is _That_??

"-But we have every confidence in her."

"I see." Zylar's voice was freezing and Tanyr froze; then she unfroze a smiled a bit. "How do I contact her?"

"Just go to Isolder and ask to speak to Tanyr's lil' sis."

"Little sister??"

"Kinda, she adopted me a few years back."

"I see."

-----

Teneniel felt echoes, rather like shock waves, of pain emanating from something at the back of her head. She waved a hand sharply to silence the ambassador of Hapes Twelve. _Tenel Ka?..._

------

Jaina felt… nothing. No pain, no rest, no heat, no cold. Just a quiet sense of _existence_ that shook her to the core. Everything was grey and misty; dark forms with burning black eyes were intermingled with glowing white figures with despair etched in their faces as they all rose to the fore and then drifted away without a sound…

A darker form came closer cautiously, his eyes a glowing light blue rather then the black. "Jai-Jaina?"

"Yes?" Jaina asked calmly, her mind asleep.

The man closed his eyes in resignation, "You don't belong here," he whispered painfully. "Not now. Not yet. Your part isn't finished yet."

"My part? My part in what?"

"In the restoration."

-----

The Doctors couldn't believe their eyes. According to the readouts, the Princess was perfectly normal and healthy. There wasn't even any scar tissue… They gave the orders to re-scan her. They had make absolutely certain.

"What'll happen if… if…" One of the newer doctors tried to explain his feelings, but trailed off as everyone in the room looked at him with fearful eyes.

"If the worst happens," one of the head doctors finally said painfully. "We'll die."

-----

Zekk was hiding in the armory, surrounded by blasters. Admittedly that probably wasn't the best place for him but it was the only place where he could reach the lock on the door that locked on the inside and not on the outside. Using one of the blasters to wield the door shut had taken him a little longer then he had suspected though and he had found it difficult to see anything past the pretty stars that spangled his sight. It had only lasted an hour though, and then he'd had to endure Mara's incessant pleading with him.

_Huh._

Then she had wandered off muttering something about "Emperor's Highly Personal Top Secret Majorly Classified Code Black Stash". Zekk shrugged, then sighted down the barrel of an Enfield .303. The thing was ancient and actually used something called "bullets" rather then powerpacks. He shook his head, it couldn't hurt a fly! A bullet was just a piece of metal. You killed people with light, not things. He shook his head again and brought it back up to his shoulder. Sweet. 

_I'm Bond. James Bond. Agent double seven o-_

_Oh you are, are you?_

_Djai!_

_Sorry about this morning pal, I kinda needed to cover some tracks._

_Hey, no biggie. It got me here, didn't it?_

_You do realize how vulnerable you are, right?_

_What does 'fun-ner-able' mean?_

_It means 'exposed'._

_Exposed?_

_It's not a good thing – the less vulnerable you are, the less likely you are to being killed. The more vulnerable you are, the easier the bad guys have it for taking you down and out of the running._

_Oh. I see. Look at this!_ Zekk moved right along and began to extol the virtues of the ancient breech-loading Enfield rifle, much to Djai's amusement.

-----

Artoo rolled through the palace cautiously. All the humanoids were gone and what few droids he saw turned and fled away before he could even finish his greeting. A soft depressed tottle expressed his anguish. His rollers were almost completely worn away and he needed to power up. Still, he pressed onwards bravely. After almost two hours of exhausting search, the small R2 unit had come to the irrevocable conclusion that Mara Jade had not taken him to Coruscant as the coordinates had said. And had instead had brought him to a secret Imperial hideout. And that meant that he was in enemy territory. His tiny electrical wielder was out in seconds as he snuck around the large buildings, ready to take on whatever came his way.

-----

Jer had finally given up on the futile attempt to re-stuff his pillows and had ringed for a maid to clean the mess up. It was actually rather amazing that she had, while everyone loved him, they all practically worshiped Taz. Tazmania. Except for his father, he favored Jer and Alianè, not that they were complaining mind you. Having ones Father side with you usually was not something you dreaded. Still, he would be working late and Jer's comm. lines had been limited to only incoming calls. His father never called home. Not even for his anniversary. If he remembered that was.

The small black, hand held comm. unit by his bed rang shrilly and he rolled his swivel chair over to it. It was on it's third ring when his hand slammed down on it hard. Bringing it to his ear, "Joran residence," he identified himself, "This is Jer speaking, who is this?"

"Jer? It's Jo, is a guy with a bionic eye there right now?"

"Dunno, I'm stuck in my room."

"Did Taz cut the power lines to the door again?"

"Surprisingly, no. She just told mom I beat her up with pillows, broke one of her fingernails, hurt her head, and generally destroyed my room so Mom blew up at me and grounded me. What fun."

Jo winced, "Sorry…"

"Wasn't your fault exactly."

"I know but still. Can't you slice your way into the security cameras to find out if he's there or not though?"

Jer sighed, then pinned the comm. unit to his shoulder with his cheek to free up his hands for his computer terminal. "Sure, I can try."

"Thanks Jer! You're the greatest! Call me once you find out, okay?"

"No can do," Jer informed her, his hands flying over the keys as his eyes scanned the pages of code for the right entry form. "Mom's blocked all out-going calls for me."

"What?? Oh not this again…"

"I know."

Jo sighed, exactly like her brother had. "Well… dang. This muddles things up."

"Jo, can't you just give up on Eire? This is really messing things up."

"Jer, can't you just give up on me? It's really making things hard."

"I can't do that! You're my sister!"

"And Eire is like my little sister!"

"She can't be that bad."

"I mean like a replacement one, you little…" Jo trailed off in a teasing menacing voice.

Jer laughed. "Okay, okay, okay I'll stop."

"Thank you."

"But couldn't you at least tell Mom?"

"Tell her what?"

"About Eire."

"But she's already so convinced that it's a boy that I keep sneaking off to see, it'd be a real cryin' shame to disprove that belief, don't you think?" Jo asked coyly.

Jer shook his head as he started reviewing all of the pictures that the security cameras were rolling. "Uh… I think I've got him, Jo. Is he spikey hair that's grey at the edges with a red eye and ratty clothes kinda like what Han Solo wears?"

"Uh… I think so, Ms. Shada?"

"Yes, that's Booster," Jer heard someone say distractedly in the background.

"Yeah, that's him."

"Who's Shada?"

"She's the lady who saved Eire an' me."

"Bring her on home with you, mom'll want to throw a big party for her."

"Right-o bro."

"Listen, I think I have to go now."

"Kay, see ya later Jer."

"Later Jo."  
-------

_This is absolutely horrible! He's learned to tune us out!_

_I can't believe it! Damn that–"_

Another one of the Voices leapt at him, one hand clamping over his mouth to stem the stream of words. _We don't know that for sure! And hold your tongue! This is a child's mind!_

_And he knows more swear words then I do._ the first one commented, chagrined.

_I know, we have **got** to talk to Djai about that._

_I don't think Djai will listen. He's always hated us._

_Not all of us, he never hated his twin._

_True._

_Think someone should tell him that she's still alive?_

_After what he's taught Zekk? Absolutely not!_

_He needs to concentrate on Zekk, not his sister._

_I still think someone shou–_

_Well we don't and we won't and that's final and no you may not defy us and yes you may keep your mouth shut for the rest of the day after you thank me for my wonderful kindness to you and no you may not argue with me._

_All that in one breath,_ The one who was not arguing said in an admiring tone.

_I know, I pride myself on my extensive lung capacity._

_Hmph_

_Oh stop pouting!_

_Oh please do, it's not like this is the first time you've lost in a fight against me._

_Hmph_

_Well "hmph" to you too then. Hmph._

_I say, that was a bit strong now!_

_Here we go again…_

_I object to that statement!_

_And I as well!!_

_Not this!!_

_Good sir, it seems our views correspond, shall we not join forces and CRUSH the one who dares to be exasperated with us?_

_Quite so, dear chap. Shall we?_

_I'm afraid my rapier was confiscated a time and a half ago._

_And mine as well…_

_But! They haven't confiscated my fists and feet!_

_Quite right! Chaaaaaaaaaaarge!!!_

_Chaaaaaaaaaarge_

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

------

Javen felt like a whirlwind had swept through his heart and carried most of it off. No matter how much he wailed though, he could undo any of the damage, couldn't help Tenel Ka ever again. She was hurt, yes she had inflicted the pain on herself, but he knew that if it hadn't been for him, she would still be alive…

-------

Across the galaxy, spread far and few in between, the seven of the Numbers froze, and seven identical faces turned to face the direction of Hapes. They had to work fast.

------

Del Ray walked up the boarding ramp in a slight state of shock. _I can't believe they sent their personal shuttle out to get me! This is sooo cool! I'll bet that they don't do this for ev-_

"Doctor Spectra?" a cool voice asked, "Please hurry, there isn't much time."

Del Ray blinked, "I'm sorry?"

"I will repeat myself, Hurry. Time is wasting. You, get her bags, Captain? Get us out of here."

Del Ray shook her head as her bags were taken away by a scurrying boy and a brisk woman dressed in a captain's uniform stalked off to the helm. "I'm sorry… but I don't follow."

"It's painfully simple," the cool voice continued, hidden by a halfway open door. "We need to hurry. We're going to be spending over twelve hours in hyperspace and that's going to cost us dearly."

"Why? I thought I was being called on for advice-"

"Oh, make no mistake, that's the only reason you were called up. However, the situation has… changed, shall we say, and now we need you for your knife. Not your brain. Good day, doctor."

-------

Del Ray… someone you can hate. Trust me on this one. Hating her is what I made her for.


End file.
